The Muggleborn
by TheTragedyIs13
Summary: Alexa Lott is a girl who grew up daydreaming about fantastical adventures while she sat up in her room making objects fly. When she gets an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, she has no idea what her future holds. After being Sorted into Slytherin, Alexa struggles with being a Muggleborn in a Pureblood-centric house. Set in Harry's year: 1991-1998. Fic one in The Muggleborn Chronicles.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I know, I know. It's been literal years since I've last posted a Harry Potter fic, and this time, it doesn't even center around the trio. This came to me the other night and I ran with it. It'll be multiple chapters and am also currently toying with the idea of either going from year one all the way up to year seven on this one or to split it up and do a series *shudders at the idea*. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy and please read/review.

* * *

The bell rang shrilly, jerking Alexa from her daydream.

"Come on, Lexa," her best friend, Jo, said, nudging Alexa's elbow. She had her rucksack hitched high onto one shoulder, her blonde, wavy hair pulled high up onto her head in a ponytail.

"Yeah. Right." Alexa packed up her books and stuffed them into her bag before following Jo from the classroom.

"So how are you gonna spend your holiday?" Jo wondered as they walked slowly down the corridor while other students raced by.

They stopped at Alexa's locker where she pulled out her coat and shrugged it on.

"We'll probably do nothing," Alexa said, shutting her locker and picking her bag back up, slinging it across her shoulder. "Dad got a promotion a few months ago, so he can never take a holiday. Mum says it's because he's too important."

Jo looked sympathetic. "That's how Mum was until she got pregnant with Ellie. We never took holiday's – the hospital needed her too much. But now we take one every summer."

Alexa shuffled towards the doors and out into the overcast afternoon.

"Where do you reckon you'll go?" she asked.

"Mum and Dad were talking about a cruise," Jo said, making a face, "but after Dad showed me _A Night to Remember_ , I don't think I ever want to step foot on a ship!"

Alexa laughed as they hurried down the steps to the pavement below.

"You might laugh," Jo said, "but it's a real fear. The ship could sink and then we'd all be stranded in the middle of the ocean."

"You know they found _Titanic_ a few years ago, right?"

"That's why Dad showed me _A Night to Remember_."

They made their way to the end of the street and stopped, each poised to go their own way.

"Make sure you call before you leave," Alexa reminded Jo. "I don't want to spend a week without knowing you've left until it's too late."

She lifted her right hand, pinky out and, after a few seconds of suppressed laughter, Jo latched her pinky to Alexa's and held on tight.

* * *

Pushing the door open, Alexa tossed her bag onto the chair behind the door and strode in.

Making for the kitchen, she was met halfway by their dog, Foxes, who bounded towards her on short, stubby legs.

Stooping down, Alexa picked up Foxes and continued on her way to the kitchen to get an apple from the bowl.

Putting Foxes down, Alexa bit into the red apple, the juice dribbling down her chin, as she made her way up to her room, Foxes trailing behind.

She had time, she thought as she stepped into her room, waiting for Foxes to enter before closing the door and locking it.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, concentrating hard, Alexa held out her hands, palms up, and lifted a stack of books off her desk.

Grinning madly, with Foxes barking up at the books, Alexa gave a flick of her wrist and sent the books spinning in lazy circles around her room. Foxes barks grew in intensity as she tried to snatch the books from the air.

She didn't know how or why she was able to do things like this. As far as she knew, no one else in her family could. Or anyone that she knew at all could.

Once, a couple of years ago, Alexa had read a book about a girl who could move things with her mind.

As the books continued to float around her room, Alexa wondered if she had the same ability.

* * *

 **A/N:** Also, they won't all be this short, I promise. Some will probably be quite long, like, 1k+ long. I hope I keep up with this because I really like this storyline. See you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I'm not sure how frequent these updates will be. Currently, I am transferring what I have from my notebook to my computer and will update, as of right now, once a day. I will let you know when they will slow down. For now, however, enjoy.

* * *

Pushing her food around on her plate, Alexa listened as her parents gave each other a run down of their day.

Her mind drifted and she imagined herself lifting the table right in front of her parents, just to see how they would react.

It would be quite funny, she thought with a slight smile.

"Alexa?"

Her head snapped up and she became aware of her parents watching her closely.

"What?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"We asked you how your last day of school was," her father said.

"Oh." She shifted slightly in her seat. "Fine, I guess."

"Does Jo have any plans this summer?" her mother inquired.

Alexa nodded. "She said her parents were thinking about taking a cruise."

Her mother looked impressed. "That sounds fun."

"Will we get to go on holiday?"

Her parents exchanged looks before her father sighed.

"Not this year, sweet heart."

Alexa frowned and speared her potatoes with her fork. "We never get to go on holiday anymore. The last time we had one, we visited Granny at Christmas."

"You enjoyed yourself," her mother reminded her. "And that was two years ago."

"Yeah, two whole years since I've seen Scotland and Granny," Alexa grumbled.

"Well, maybe you and your mum can take a week this summer," her father suggested, looking at his wife, who gave a half-hearted shrug.

"Maybe." Alexa smashed her potato between the prongs of the fork then dropped the fork where it clattered loudly against the plate. "May I be excused? I'm not hungry.'

"No," her mother said sternly. "You will sit here until your father and I are finished."

Slouching in her chair, arms crossed over her chest, Alexa chewed the inside of her cheeks while her parents began planning a trip to Granny's.

"You remember that day, don't you?"

Alexa tuned back in just as her mother lifted her wine glass to her lips, draining it.

"Hard to forget," her mother remarked. "It was so odd that day. And I had taken her out for a walk and I saw so many people dressed strangely."

"What are you talking about?" Alexa wanted to know.

"A little before your second birthday, the day after Halloween, there were loads of people dressed in cloaks," her father explained. "No one I knew understood why. We talk about it at work from time to time. I reckon we're still trying to figure it out."

Later that evening, while Alexa tried to sleep, she turned over what her parents had spoken of at dinner.

Strange people dressed oddly.

It was a stretch, she admitted to herself, a very long one, but what if they were like her? What if they could do magic too?

* * *

She spent the first month of summer either over at Jo's or talking on the phone with her.

Alexa and Jo had been friends since the very first week at primary school and as the years passed, their friendship only grew stronger.

In the third week of June, however, Jo told Alexa something that her dropping onto a chair, phone clenched tightly in her hand as she stared blankly at the floor.

"Lexa? Lexa, are you still there?"

Clearing her throat, Alexa said, "You're leaving?"

"I'll still be home for holidays," Jo reassured her quickly, "and Kent really isn't that far away."

"But Benenden? That's one of the best, Jo," Alexa said in a small voice. it felt as though the world around was crumbling at her feet. "And I'll still be stuck here."

There was a pregnant pause before Jo asked, "But are you at least happy for me?"

Alexa sighed heavily then forced a laugh. "Of course I am. If only one of us gets an excellent education, I'm glad it's you."

"And Lindsey and Amelia will still be there," Jo reminded her, sounding relieved that Alexa wasn't starting a row with her. It wasn't out of the question, Alexa thought darkly. "So you're not gonna be completely alone."

"But you won't be here." Alexa toyed with the raised edge of the armrest as she stared morosely at the carpet.

"Yeah."

They were both silent for a while before Jo said, "And what do you know, I'm going on a cruise after all."

Alexa sat up a little straighter, feeling a quick flash of happiness that Jo would be stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

"Really? So your parents decided, then," she said, feeling her lips curve.

"Yeah. I'll call you when we get back," Jo promised. "We leave tomorrow."

Alexa raised her eyebrows, feeling more than a little irritated that Jo only just mentioned the holiday.

"So soon?"

"Mum and Dad already have everything packed and ready to go," Jo said. "My mum's youngest sister is coming to take care of Ronnie and Kit."

"I'm sure she'll have fun." Alexa was ready to hang up the phone and not hear Jo's voice for a week.

"Yeah. Ronnie will be fine, but I think Kit's gonna be a wreck. She doesn't like Maddie that much," Jo said, sounding amused.

There was another long pause before Jo said, "Well, Mum's at the door, telling me to get off. I'll call you when I get home next week."

They said their goodbye's then Alexa reached across the table and put the telephone down.

She was torn. She didn't know if she was happy or sad that Jo wouldn't be home for a week. Alexa was irritated that Jo hadn't bothered to mention the trip until the day before they were leaving and it marred her feelings about Jo going to Benenden.

Was it wrong of her to wish Jo's parents couldn't afford a school like Benenden? she wondered as she got to her feet and moved to the window that looked over the street outside where all the other neighborhood kids played in the street.

She just didn't want to lose her best friend.

The week Jo was on her cruise passed in agonizing slowness. Alexa thought the week would never end.

I might as well get used to not talking to her, Alexa reminded herself as she sat in front of the telly, watching the afternoon news.

She had heard the heard the mail come hours before, but she hadn't had any motivation to get up and get it. But when she checked the time and realized that her mother would be home within the hour, Alexa got up and shuffled out of the sitting room, pushing her thick, dark hair behind her ear as she stooped to retrieve the mail.

On top of the pile was a letter from Granny and Alexa broke into a grin.

Flipping through the rest of the mail, she was startled to discover a letter addressed to her – and it wasn't from Jo.

She tossed the rest of the mail onto the kitchen counter as she made her way to the back door to stop out in the balmy late June afternoon.

Dropping onto the bench by the bed of roses, Alexa opened the letter carefully, conscious of how heavy the paper was and more than a little confused at the strange way it had been addressed to her.

Miss A. Lott

First Bedroom

17 Holly Road

Helston

With great trepidation, Alexa unfolded the heavy letter and read the first line.

Heart racing, she threw the letter to the ground and, before it landed, another piece of paper of the same thickness and covered in the same bright green ink fluttered out and hit the ground.

When she was certain she could breathe properly again, Alexa retrieved the papers and began again.

At the top of the first page was a crest of a snake, a lion, an eagle, and a badger. She stared at it for a moment before her eyes dropped back down to the first line and reread it.

 _Dear Miss Lott, we are pleased to inform you that have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term starts September 1_ _. We await your owl no later than July 31_ _._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

She looked at the other page, reading over what she needed and felt a thrill of excitement when she saw that she needed a wand.

"So it _is_ magic that I can do," Alexa whispered to herself as she read the first line over and over again. "I'm a witch."

The only problem, she thought, her excitement ebbing away, was trying to convince her parents.

* * *

Alexa told no one about her letter and had kept it hidden in her pillowcase.

She wanted to tell this Hogwarts that she would be there, but she hadn't the faintest idea as to what the letter meant when it said "We await your owl".

She had even kept it from Jo, who had returned just two days later from her cruise, gushing over amazing the trip around Europe had been.

Neither of them spoke of their impending separation and Alexa didn't want to. She wasn't even sure how to bring up the fact that she had been accepted to a magic school. And if she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure she even wanted Jo to know the truth about her.

In the second week of July, Alexa and her mother headed up to Scotland to visit Granny and on the train ride up there, Alexa swore she saw a man flying on a broomstick as they passed an open field. She had to blink several times she make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

On the second night at Granny's, while Mrs. Lott was on the telephone with her husband, Alexa asked her grandmother to tell her about the witch in the woods.

It had been on her favorite stories when she was younger and, after learning that she was indeed a witch, Alexa wanted to hear it with her new perspective.

While Granny continued to knit, she weaved the tale about a witch who fell in love with a handsome merchant, but when she revealed the truth about who she was, he fled, abandoning her and their unborn child.

Eager for revenge, the witch cursed the merchant so that he would never again make a profit from his wares, sending him into debt and an early grave.

The story ended with the witch finding solace in her woods, teaching her daughter the ways of the Craft and to always be wary of handsome men.

"It's not just a bedtime story, you know," her grandmother told her after the tale had ended.

Alexa, who had been laying on the floor by her grandmother's feet, propped herself up on her elbows and peered inquiringly up at the old woman.

"What do you mean?" she asked eagerly.

"There's a line of witches in this family," Granny answered simply, her knitting needles clinking lightly as she spoke. "And there's a legend that it skips a few generations before it reappears."

"Who are the witches in our family?" Alexa wanted to know. "Have I met them?"

"Oh no," Granny replied with a shake of her head and Alexa felt a sharp stab of disappointment. "They supposedly stopped talking to their non-magical family centuries ago."

"Honestly, Mum, you're going to fill her head with even more fantasies," Mrs. Lott said disapprovingly as she entered the sitting room. "She doesn't need that. Your father sends his love," she added to Alexa, who kept her eyes downcast.

"And you've never had a mystical bone in your body," Granny scoffed.

"Because focusing on fantasy gets you nowhere, Mum," Mrs. Lott sniffed.

Granny shook her head, a sour expression on her heavily wrinkled face. "How I ended up with a skeptic for a daughter, Eileen, I'll never know."

"I suppose it must have skipped a generation," Mrs. Lott said snidely and Granny glared at her.

Alexa had just excused herself to escape the uncomfortable tension in the room and was hurrying up the stairs when a loud _bang_ sounded on the door.

* * *

 **A/N:** As always, I hope you enjoyed. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks very much!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I'm sorry that I didn't get this up yesterday. I had a long day and didn't even touch my computer. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

Scampering up the stairs, Alexa hid behind the wall and peered around the corner and down the stairs to the door, where Mrs. Lott was already striding towards it.

"Who on earth would that be at this time of night?" Mrs. Lott wondered, though Alexa saw her remove an umbrella from the stand before she opened the door to reveal a very large man standing in the doorway.

"Sorry abou' the late hour, but this is me las' stop fer the night," the man said cheerily. "Don't s'ppose yeh'd let me in, eh?"

"Hardly," Mrs. Lott said coldly, bringing her umbrella around so that he could see it. He let out a chuckle and Mrs. Lott speared it forward. "I don't know you, now leave this instant."

The man, still laughing, removed his own umbrella, a pink thing with a curved handle, and waved it at her. "I've got one, too. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, from Hogwarts, and I've come ter tell yeh abou' it." He stowed the umbrella back inside his coat and looked expectantly at Mrs. Lott, who stood rooted to the spot.

At the mention of Hogwarts, Alexa raced down the stairs just as Mrs. Lott began closing the door in the man's face.

He had a wild tangle of hair that covered most of his face save his eyes, which twinkled warmly in the porch light.

"Stop, Mum!" Alexa cried out as she reached the bottom of her stairs, startling her mother. "Let him in!"

"Alexa, go upstairs," her mother ordered sternly. " _Now_."

"Sir, my name is Alexa Lott. I got a letter about Hogwarts not three weeks ago," Alexa said quickly, ignoring her mother completely. "I never told Mum or Dad because I didn't know how."

The man named Rubeus Hagrid grinned. "Tha's why I'm here. I'm here ter explain ter yeh all abou' Hogwarts and what yeh'll do there."

Alexa looked imploringly up at her mother, who stared dumbfounded back.

"Mum, please," Alexa pleaded. "Let him in."

Mrs. Lott looked uncertainly down at Alexa before looking up at the giant in the door – and then she stepped aside.

"Who is it?" Granny called from the sitting room.

"Someone who needs to talk to Alexa," Mrs. Lott called back as she motioned to the giant to go forward.

With Alexa leading the way, she went back into the sitting room and stood by the empty fireplace while the giant struggled into the room.

"Can he fit?" Granny wondered as Rubeus Hagrid wiggled his way through the narrow doorframe.

"Rubeus Hagrid, ma'am," he said, "but everyone calls me Hagrid. I'm the groundskeeper at Hogwarts."

Granny's eyes widened.

"Hogwarts?" she echoed faintly.

"I'm here ter talk abou' Hogwarts with Alexa," he explained, motioning to Alexa, who stood a little straighter.

"Yes, but what is Hogwarts?" Mrs. Lott wanted to know.

"A school of magic."

The answer came, not from Hagrid, but from Granny, who was still looking up at him with a wide-eyed gaze.

"Mum, how did you know that?" Mrs. Lott asked, clearly startled.

Hagrid was grinning widely and Alexa felt more than a little amused. Obviously she had listened better to Granny's stories than her own mother had.

Granny looked at her daughter with a sort of tired amusement. "Not all of my tales were fantasy, dear." She gestured to Hagrid. "Explain Hogwarts to us."

"Yeh leave from King's Cross station at exactly eleven o'clock on the morning of September firs' every year," Hagrid began. "Yeh get all of yer school supplies from Diagon Alley. Look fer the Leaky Cauldron in London then go through to the back. Ask Tom, the innkeeper, ter tap the bricks fer yeh. Yeh'll exchange yer money fer ours at Gringotts. It's the firs' place yeh'll want ter go – no shops in Diagon Alley take ye r money," he added apologetically.

"Yeh've got yer list, haven' yeh, Alexa?" Hagrid asked.

"Not with me" she said, "but yes. I need all sorts of books, a cauldron, scales, robes."

"I suggest Ollivander's las'," Hagrid went on with an approving nod at Alexa.

"Why? What's he sell?" she asked excitedly.

Hagrid leaned forward, his beard twitching. "Wands."

"I've heard enough," Mrs. Lott suddenly said, launching herself towards Alexa from where she stood by the sofa. "Magic isn't real and I don't need you filling her head with more fantasies."

"Mum!" Alexa cried, hurt.

Mrs. Lott held up her hand, silencing Alexa. "No, you have too many fantasies now. I can hardly keep your feet on the ground as it is. I don't need some lunatic telling you magic is real. I won't allow it."

"But Mum-!"

 _"Enough."_ Mrs. Lott shot her a warning look and Alexa shrank back towards the fireplace, head hanging in defeat. "Now, Mr. Hagrid, if you could be so kind as to let yourself out?"

"Eileen," Granny snapped, "that's enough from you. This is my house and the man can stay. If you don't want to hear anymore, feel free to go to your own room."

Alexa gave her grandmother a grateful look while Mrs. Lott stood silently and unmoving.

"Good." Granny looked back at Hagrid. "Do continue."

"After yeh get yer books home, I suggest yeh read 'em thoroughly. It's dangerous stuff, magic is, and not to be used lightly," he advised and Alexa bobbed her head in understanding. "There are four Houses and yeh get Sorted before the Welcoming Feast. Albus Dumbledore is headmaster and not a finer one yeh'll find," he added, beaming with pride. "Yer classes start the day after yeh arrive and go up until Christmas. Yeh return before Boxing Day and classes start back up the day after. Yeh have a week fer Easter, but what with exams so close, mos' kids just stay and study. Yeh'll come home fer the summer holiday on the last day of June."

"And the fee?" Mrs. Lott asked when Hagrid finished.

"Eh?" Hagrid grunted.

"How much does it cost to send her to this place?"

"It's free fer all native students," he answered simply. "If yeh live here, it's free."

Mrs. Lott narrowed her hazel eyes, the same eyes Alexa had inherited. "That's terribly nice," she sneered.

Hagrid shrugged his massive shoulders. "We reckon any witch or wizard has a right to get their abilities under control."

Mrs. Lott scoffed. "Alexa doesn't have abilities."

"Yes I do," Alexa squeaked.

All eyes turned to her and she swallowed nervously.

"Your father and I would have known," Mrs. Lott reasoned.

"Not if I kept it from you," Alexa shot back.

"For heaven's sake, Eileen, if you don't want the girl to go, just say so," Granny burst out.

"How do I know it's not a prank?" Mrs. Lott retorted.

"Ma'am, I assure yeh, it's not a prank," Hagrid said seriously. "Now, I can come with yeh ter get yer things, but yeh'll need to owl me back and let the school know she's comin'."

"Owl back?" Mrs. Lott's voice was rising. "What does that mean?"

To answer, Hagrid shoved his hand into a pocket and produced a tiny, very ruffled owl.

Mrs. Lott let out a squeak of fear as Hagrid deposited the owl onto a nearby table before reaching into another pocket and pulling out paper and a quill and ink.

Alexa watched with fascination as Hagrid scribbled on the paper, rolled it up, then tied it to the owl, who had stuck out its leg as Hagrid neared it.

He then picked up the owl and disappeared from sight.

Alexa caught up with him just he released the owl into the night.

"How does it know where to go?" she wondered.

"Hogwarts ain' far from here," Hagrid replied. He turned to face her. "She'll come round, yeh'll see."

"I will be there," Alexa promised, "even if I have to do it all myself."

Hagrid beamed. "Tha's a girl! Yeh'll make a fine witch, once yeh get trained."

"How many years?"

"Seven."

"Will I be the oldest?" she wanted to know as a cool breeze fluttered over her, lifting the ends of her dark hair.

"Nah. There's a girl jus' like yeh, Muggle parents an' all, who was born not a full month after the cut-off," Hagrid told her.

"Muggle?" The unfamiliar word felt strange in her mouth.

"A non-magic person," he explained. "But I best be off. I got a long day tomorrow. Yeh can send a letter through yer post, though, if yeh have any problems. Address it ter me and just write Hogwarts on the front. We've got workers who will get the letter ter me."

"So you know I'm coming?" she pressed.

Hagrid smiled down at her. "Can't wait ter see yeh there."

With that, Hagrid trudged off into the night, leaving Alexa standing alone in the doorway, watching him disappear.

* * *

 **A/N:** There will not be an update tomorrow, as I will be out of town until Sunday. If I'm up to it, I'll get the fourth chapter posted then. Until then!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So sorry for the delay in updates. I had a concert to go to on Saturday and didn't get home until about seven the next day. Needless to say, I've been trying to catch up on sleep ever since. For this chapter, I've combined two separate chapters together because the one would have been far too short. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"A school of magic?"

Alexa sat at the foot of the stairs, leaning against the banister as her parents hushed voices floated out of the sitting room to her.

"This is some trick, Eileen," Mr. Lott said heatedly. "And even if there was an acceptance letter, we never saw it."

"Alexa kept it hidden," Mrs. Lott explained wearily.

"Why on earth would she do that?"

"Because of the way we're reacting right now, I suppose." Mrs. Lott sighed. "Should we go along with it? Mum said she'd take Lexa if we don't."

"You're mum's senile," Mr. Lott grumbled.

"Dan," Mrs. Lott said in a low warning tone.

"If we do this and prove to her that magic is not real, what then?" Mr. Lott wondered. "She'll be crushed."

"But she'll know the truth."

There was a long, heavy silence that weighed Alexa down. They didn't believe, she thought sadly.

"I'm going to bed," Mrs. Lott said after a while and Alexa heard her mother's feet shuffling slowly in her direction.

Alexa hurried up the stairs before she was caught and flung herself onto her bed, hot, angrytears spilling down her cheeks.

She heard her mother approach her door, heard her footsteps stop outside, and then she kept going.

Alexa buried her face in her pillows and cried until she could cry no more.

"I'm going."

She threw off her blankets and stood, glancing around her dark room for a moment before nodding to herself.

Determination ripping through her, Alexa strode down the stairs and into the kitchen, head held high, shoulders back, and faced her surprised parents.

Outside, the sun was just beginning to rise and neither one of them looked awake just yet.

It was the beginning of August and Alexa still had not gotten any of her school supplies. She wanted to get them soon so that she could study them before she went off to Hogwarts, but her parents' position on the matter had not budged.

She had resolved the night before to prove to them that magic was real, that she could, indeed, do it. She was not going to miss out on learning how to control her magical abilities simply because her parents did not believe.

Eleven years old or not, Alexa was not giving in.

"I'm going to Hogwarts," she announced as the shock in her parents faces quickly wore off.

"Alexa, don't," Mrs. Lott suggested.

"Mum, just listen –"

"Alexa, enough," Mr. Lott said harshly. "Go back upstairs and go back to bed. Now," he added when Alexa made no effort to move.

In response, Alexa looked towards the cupboards and they burst open, causing Mrs. Lott to jump back in alarm.

After a brief glance towards her parents, Alexa then watched them slam shut while her parents stood in silent awe and obvious fear. She could almost hear their internal screaming as she stood in the doorway, watching them calmly.

"So," she said mildly, looking between her equally stunned parents, "can I go?"

* * *

She had spotted The Leaky Cauldron before her parents and had pushed her way eagerly into the dimly lit pub.

They found Tom, the innkeeper, who had, in turn, vanished for a moment before returning with the very large man, Hagrid.

"I knew yeh'd make it," Hagrid boomed, beaming down at Alexa proudly while her parents stood back a ways.

"I almost didn't," she confessed, looking over her shoulders at her parents. Her mother shifted awkwardly on her feet while her father stared determinedly at his feet. "But I convinced them."

"I'm sure yeh did." Hagrid motioned for Alexa's parents to come closer while he simultaneously removed his pink umbrella. "Righ', follow me."

He led the way into the back of the pub to a small, walled courtyard that held nothing but a few odd trashcans with weeds poking up through the ground.

Alexa peered around him as he tapped a brick three times.

It quivered then moved to reveal a small hole that grew wider and wider until, finally, Alexa was staring out at a crowded street.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Alexa," Hagrid said cheerfully before leading the way into the crowd.

"Alexa," Mrs. Lott hissed just as Alexa had made to follow. "We don't know if we can do this."

"Mum, hurry up or we'll lose him," Alexa insisted, ignoring her mother's fear.

"Lose him?" Mr. Lott scoffed as they slowly inched their way into the cobbled street. "He's nearly ten feet tall. We'd never lose him."

"Come on," Alexa said impatiently, tugging on her mother as they slipped through the crowd towards Hagrid.

They were headed towards a great, tall marble building that seemed to be leaning precariously towards the right side of the street.

"What is that, Hagrid?" Alexa wondered as she sidled up beside him.

"Tha's Gringotts," Hagrid explained. "Tha's where yeh'll exchange yer Muggle money fer our money."

"Muggle money." Alexa repeated, the word floating back to the forefront of her mind. "You mean we have to exchange our notes for…what?"

"Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts," Hagrid explained. "They're all coins, see, and yeh can only use 'em here. Our money don't work in the Muggle world same as how yers don't work in our world."

He led the way into the tipsy building and Alexa couldn't seem to figure out which side to look at.

The floor was made of marble and all along the great hall sat short little creatures with long noses and fingers. Some were talking to men and women while others weighed jewels or scribbled on paper with quills.

"What are they?" Alexa wondered in a hushed voice lest she be overheard.

"They're goblins," Hagrid explained in an equally low voice. "Clever creatures, goblins, but yeh never want ter cross one."

After they had exchanged three hundred pounds for ninety-nine Galleons, nine Sickles, and twelve Knuts, Alexa practically skipped back out of Gringotts and out into the sunny street outside.

"What's first?" Alexa asked excitedly.

"Check yer list," Hagrid suggested. "It's got everything yeh need."

Alexa turned to her mother, who had removed the list from her pocketbook and began reading it aloud.

"'First-year students will require: three sets of plain work robes (black), one plain pointed hat (black) for day wear, one pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar), one winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)," Mrs. Lott said. "It also says you should have name tags for your clothes."

"Should we get my robes first?" Alexa asked Hagrid. "Or should we get my books?"

"Whatever yeh like," Hagrid said happily.

"Robes first, I think," Mrs. Lott said as she folded up the letter and tucked it back into her pocketbook. She looked expectantly at Hagrid, who nodded once then led the way.

Alexa looked everywhere she could, at the brightly colored men and women in pointy hats and velvet cloaks, at the caged owls and cats outside Eeylops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie, at the books stacked precariously inside the windows at Flourish and Blotts. She spotted a group of children around her age with their faces pressed against the glass of Quality Quidditch Supplies, talking excitedly about a new broom.

Brooms, wands, cloaks. It was all real, Alexa thought, her mind reeling as she looked here and there along the street. Magic was real and she was going to a magic school.

If only she could tell Jo.

She felt more than a little disheartened at the thought of keeping it a secret from her friend, but she knew that secrecy was important. After all, she herself had never heard of Hogwarts or Diagon Alley until she discovered she was a witch. There had to be some level of security to keep the magical world hidden from the other world, she reasoned as they stepped inside Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

A squat woman clad all in emerald bustled up to Alexa, smiling expectantly at her.

"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, looking over Alexa's head to Hagrid. "We're fitting another young girl just now. If you'll follow me."

Alexa looked nervously back at her parents, who both gave her encouraging smiles before she hurried after Madam Malkin to the back of the shop.

A short girl with long, blonde hair stood on a stool while another woman pinned a black robe to her small frame.

Madam Malkin put Alexa on the stool beside the girl before slipping a long robe over her head, pinning it to the right length.

The two girls stood in silence while the women worked before the blonde girl cleared her throat before greeting Alexa.

"Are you off to Hogwarts this year?" she asked, sounding timid.

"Yes," Alexa said, shifting a little on her feet, earning her a quick chastisement from Madam Malkin.

"Have you gotten any of your books yet?" the girl wanted to know.

Alexa shook her head. "This is our first stop. I think that will be next, though."

"I've already gotten my books," the girl said, smiling a little. "I'm Hannah Abbott."

"Alexa Lott."

"Have you any idea what House you think you'll be picked for?" Hannah Abbott wanted to know.

Alexa shook her head. "No."

"My mum thinks I'll be Hufflepuff, like her," Hannah said, looking excited. "I hope so. I'm not at all brave or smart or, well, evil. But I suppose whatever House I'm in is what I am."

Alexa frowned slightly, unsure of what to say next. She knew absolutely nothing about the Houses aside from their names.

The second woman announced that Hannah was finished and the girl hopped down from the stool.

"I'll see you at Hogwarts," she said brightly, waving as she left Alexa alone.

When Alexa had finished and they had paid for the robes, Hagrid led them up the street to Flourish and Blotts where Alexa spotted a book on hexes.

"I wouldn' bother with tha'," Hagrid said wisely as she made to pull it from the shelf.

"Why not?" she wanted to know.

"Yeh can't do magic outside of Hogwarts, fer one thing," Hagrid explained as he led her back to her parents, "and tha's far more advanced magic than yeh'll be able ter do jus' yet."

"When I can I tell my friends that I'm a witch?" Alexa asked tentatively.

Hagrid looked regretful. "Not fer a while, I'm afraid. They can' know about us."

"Why not?" she asked though she was certain she already knew the answer.

"If everyone knew about magic, they'd want ter use it to fix every small problem they have," Hagrid told her. "And if they found out about us, it could mean the collapse of everything we've kept secret for centuries."

"Hagrid, can you explain the Houses to me?" she asked later while they stood in line to pay for her books. They were heavy things and she wondered how she was going to carry them around with her every day.

"Gryffindor is fer people who are brave," he explained as the line moved slowly forward. "Hufflepuff are the loyal lot. They're treated like duffers, but they're a nice bunch. Ravenclaw is fer people who have brains. They can be a bit snobbish but they're not all bad."

"And Slytherin?" she pressed. "What about them?"

"There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin," he said darkly as they neared the counter. "One of the worst dark wizards was a Slytherin. That House if full of people who only care abou' themselves."

Alexa shuffled her feet against the scarred wood floor.

"Maybe I'll be a Hufflepuff," she said quietly. "They don't sound so bad. I'm not brave or smart or selfish, so maybe I'm a Hufflepuff." She was echoing Hannah Abbott, but she was beginning to think the girl was right.

"Better than Slytherin," Hagrid said gruffly.

After they had paid for the books, they bought parchment, ink and quills, then slipped into Eeylops where Alexa's parents bought themselves an owl and got Alexa a black cat with a white patch on her stomach.

"What are yeh gonna name her?" Hagrid wanted to know as they headed down the street towards Ollivanders.

"I don't know yet," she admitted as the cat in the cage mewled loudly. "She doesn't seem happy, though."

"But she likes you," Mrs. Lott piped up. "That's what matters."

When they approached the wand shop, Hagrid suggested that he wait outside with the owl and cat while they went in.

"If you're sure," Mrs. Lott said uncertainly. "I'm not sure what I can do in there."

Alexa put her hand on the doorknob as Hagrid said, "It's interestin' ter watch."

Leading the way into the shop, Alexa approached the empty counter and rang the bell, where it echoed loudly throughout the shop.

Looking back at her parents, she saw that her mother had sat down on an empty stool while her father peered curiously a wand displayed in the window on a faded pillow.

"A new face is always a welcome one."

Alexa jumped at the voice overhead and spun round to find a tall man with wild, gray hair staring down at her from the top of a staircase. He had a massive ledger in his hands, which he closed as he descended the stairs.

Stepping behind the counter, he dropped the ledger onto the counter and picked up a measuring tape.

"Hello," Alexa said, feeling awkward as the man moved around the counter towards her.

"Which is your wand arm?" he asked as he stretched out the tape.

"Er, my right arm," she answered uncertainly.

"Hold out your arm." He measured Alexa from shoulder to shoulder, then wrist to elbow, knee to armpit, around her head, and from shoulder to floor. While he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use phoenix tail feathers, heartstrings of dragons, and unicorn hairs. There are no two Ollivander wands that are exactly the same, just as no person is the same nor any unicorn or dragon or phoenix is the same. You will also never get the same result from another wizard's wand that you get with your own. The wand, after all, chooses the wizard, not the other way around."

Alexa suddenly noticed that the measuring tape, which was measuring her fingers, was measuring on its own. Mr. Ollivander had moved to a shelf and had already begun pulling down long, narrow boxes and was stacking them on a tall table beside him.

"That will do," he said with a snap of his fingers and the measuring tape fell in a heap to the floor at Alexa's feet. He removed the lid off the box in his hands and took out a long, gleaming wand that was stained red and handed it to her.

"Try this. It's made of apple wood, dragon heartstring core, eleven and a half inches, slightly springy," Mr. Ollivander reeled off as Alexa took the wand and gave it a little wave.

No sooner had Alexa raised her wand, however, than Mr. Ollivander took it from her and handed her another.

"Oak, phoenix feather, ten and a quarter inches, nice and supple."

Alexa had only just wrapped her hands around the handle when he snatched it back and handed her another.

"Chestnut, unicorn hair, quite pliant, nine inches. Try it out."

She had only just barely lifted the wand when Mr. Ollivander took it back and handed yet another – and another – and another. No wand seemed to satisfy Mr. Ollivander, but she got the distinct impression that he was rather enjoying himself.

"Tricky customers are the most fun, I think," Mr. Ollivander said as he lifted a black wand out of its box. "We'll find your perfect match, don't worry, dear."

As he handed her the wand, he said, "Ebony, phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches, nice and flexible."

As Alexa's fingers wrapped around the wand, she felt a rush of warmth in her fingers and she brought the wand down over her head, showering herself in red and gold sparks.

Mr. Ollivander seemed rather pleased and, as he took the wand back and replaced it in its box, said, "This wand is very good with charms. Treat it well."

After they paid the seven Galleons for the wand, Alexa, who couldn't stop smiling, skipped out to Hagrid and showed it off.

"A good wand," he cried after she told him what it was. "Yeh'll make a fine witch."

As the day wore down and the sun began to sink behind the tall buildings, Hagrid led the way back to The Leaky Cauldron and, as they stood out in the street back in the Muggle world, Hagrid handed Alexa an envelope.

"Yer ticket to Hogwarts," he said as Alexa took it from him. "The train leaves at eleven o'clock exactly on the first o' September from King's Cross, so don' be late. Yeh'll need to find platform nine and three-quarters. It's between platforms nine and ten. Yeh'll need to run straight at the barrier. I can' wait ter see yeh at Hogwarts, Alexa."

Hagrid bid them farewell then disappeared back inside the Leaky Cauldron.

On the ride back home, with the owl and Alexa's new cat in the backseat of the car, Alexa watched the sun slip behind the horizon and the stars come out.

She finally allowed herself to be excited for what was to come.

* * *

 **A/N:** I admittedly don't know very much about Hannah Abbott, so please forgive any lapses in facts. I, myself, am not a Hufflepuff (and am currently dealing with an identity crisis as I originally thought myself a Gryffindor only to realize that I might actually be a Slytherin) and so any knowledge about Hufflepuff and anyone in its House is unknown to me. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review. I read every single one.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** This chapter is extremely long, but there didn't seem to be a good stopping point until, well, the chapter ends. Also, I realize that not many people truly look for fics with OCs in it, and that's fine. Most people prefer fics with the main characters in it. Just note that the main characters are in here and that my OC does interact with them. Frequently. And if you've made it this far, hello, nice to meet you, where you've been? I can show you incredible things. Enjoy!

* * *

Alexa found _Hogwarts, A History_ to be extremely fascinating. She enjoyed learning all she could about her future school and those who founded it.

Godric Gryffindor, she had learned, had valued bravery above all else. Helga Hufflepuff hardly cared about making the strongest, bravest witches and wizards. She simply cared about making the kindest. Rowena Ravenclaw had cared deeply about intelligence, and so she taught her students to be the smartest in the room. Salazar Slytherin cared more about the purity of the students' blood than anything else. They had to be pureblood, for that was all that mattered.

"I will definitely not be in Slytherin," Alexa said to herself as she read about him.

While she had been reading, she had stumbled across Merlin, feeling a thrill of excitement at discovering that he had indeed been real and not a simple bedtime story.

After learning about Merlin's existence, Alexa decided to name her cat after his advisory, Morgana.

The newly-dubbed cat lay at Alexa's side while she read well into the night and did not move until the next morning, where she stretched and leapt onto Alexa's stomach.

Scratching Morgana's ears, Alexa picked up Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and began reading about the magical creatures until her hunger won out.

Getting up, she set the book aside, taking care to not lose her page, then set off down the stairs with Morgana hot on her heels, meowing loudly until Alexa filled her bowl with the suggested food.

"I think it's strange that the lady never thought of our food for you," Alexa said as she stroked Morgana's back while the cat settled down to her breakfast. "But perhaps it's best."

While Alexa ate her cereal, she watched the light drizzle of rain come down, her mind circling on the idea that she was truly a witch.

She wanted to practice magic. She didn't want to go to Hogwarts, not knowing anything at all about magic. She was certain that many other students who had grown up in the Wizarding world would know how to do magic. She wanted to be one of them. She wanted to show them that she wasn't just another girl who grew up as a Muggle, not knowing that she wasn't a witch. She wanted to prove that she could be a great witch, just like them. But Hagrid's warning about doing magic outside of school prevented her from picking up her wand and trying out a few spells.

Did it count, she wondered as Morgana jumped onto the table and sniffed at the milk in Alexa's bowl, if she hadn't been to Hogwarts yet?

Not wanting to find out, Alexa contented herself with memorizing spells until Jo called.

"Mum wants to know if you want to come over for tea," she said. "I'll be leaving next week and I don't know if I'll get to see you before then."

After letting their new owl out, a screech owl that her father had named Arthur to coincide with Morgana's name, she watched him fly around before dressing and heading over to Jo's.

* * *

"I can't believe we're both going away," Jo sighed as she stretched out on the sitting room floor. "Me to Benenden and you to Heathfield. We're going to be so far away from one another, it hardly seems fair."

"We'll have to write each other," Alexa told her. "Every week."

"I'm nervous," Jo whispered. "No one I know is there."

"I know how you feel," Alexa said honestly. "It's a scary thought."

Jo sat up. "But we'll see each other at Christmas, right?"

"Of course," Alexa reassured her, feeling her stomach twist anxiously. "And maybe at Easter. But I think I'll be having exams soon after, so I doubt I'll get to come home."

When it was time for Alexa to leave, she found that she could not have been happier.

While she loved being with Jo, she had found it incredibly difficult to stay quiet about her real school and, with only a week left before she would going, all she wanted to do was talk about it every waking second of every day. She was surprised her parents still allowed her to be in the same room as them.

As soon as she was home, she hurried up to her room where she found Morgana curled up in a ball at the foot of her bed, fast asleep. Grabbing her new Potions book, Alexa settled into her chair by the window and read until it was time for dinner.

* * *

The day before she was to go to Hogwarts, Alexa found that she could not sit still for anything.

Morgana had taken to flicking her tail and watching her as Alexa paced around the room, full to bursting with nervous energy.

That evening, as she sat in the sitting room with her parents while they watched one of their evening shows, Alexa kept crossing and uncrossing her legs, chewing on the inside of her mouth as the hours slowly ticked by.

"Honestly, Alexa, you're making me nervous," Mrs. Lott said from the sofa as she watched the telly.

"It's _tomorrow_ , Mum," Alexa emphasized. "Tomorrow, I get to go to Hogwarts and learn magic!"

"Be sure to write Granny," her mother reminded her. "She'll want to know everything."

"I will," Alexa promised as she crossed her legs once more and stared at the telly.  
The next morning, Alexa woke up early, a bundle of nerves as she checked and re-checked that she had everything in her new truck which bore her initials. Her clothes had name tags, something her mother had personally seen to, and all of her books were stacked neatly in a corner beneath her robes and normal clothes. Her quill and ink had been tucked safely into a leather case her father had gotten her the week before. Morgana's food had been placed in her school bag and sat atop of everything in her trunk.

"It's nearly time," Alexa said excitedly as she loaded Morgana up in her carrier.

After a quick breakfast, Mr. Lott loaded Alexa's trunk in the back of the car and, with Morgana beside her in the backseat, they set off for London and for King's Cross station.

They had just a little under an hour left by the time they reached King's Cross and, as Mr. Lott pushed her trunk inside, she felt her stomach twist into knots as Morgana mewled pitifully from her cage.

"Where did he say it was?" Mrs. Lott wondered as she gripped Alexa's hand tightly.

"Between platforms nine and ten," Alexa answered immediately. "He said I needed to run."

"Can we go onto the platform?" Mr. Lott asked dubiously as platform nine came into view.

To Alexa's surprise, she saw a young boy with a round face and blond hair standing next to a stern looking old woman with a trunk nearly identical to hers with a toad held fast in his chubby hands.

"I suppose we'll see if you're at all like your father," the woman sighed disdainfully. "Come on, we don't want you to be late."

And right before Alexa's eyes, she watched the old woman and the boy run head first into the barrier – and disappear!

"Mum," Alexa gasped, "I think we're here."

Mr. Lott wheeled the cart around and pointed it towards the brick barrier.

Alexa took the handle and, after telling her parents to keep hold of her, broke into a jog and ran straight for the barrier.

She squeezed her eyes closed and waited for her trolley to slam into the barrier, only she didn't. she kept going.

Opening her eyes, she slowed to a stop, relieved to find that her parents were still behind her before turning to look at the sight before her.

A great scarlet train sat before her as dozens of people milled about the platform, loading their trunks and lingering on their goodbyes.

"Shall we get you a seat, then?" Mrs. Lott said, pushing Alexa gently forward.

They found an empty compartment towards the middle of the train and loaded her trunk and Morgana inside.

"Have fun," Mrs. Lott told Alexa, who bobbed her head excitedly. "And spare no details. We want to hear all about it."

"I won't leave anything out, Mum, I promise."

Time seemed to vanish as eleven o'clock drew nearer. The blond boy shuffled into her compartment not a minute after parents had left and had asked if any of the seats were taken.

"No," she told him.

He had just sat down when he jumped back up and began searching the entire compartment for something.

"Have you lost something?" Alexa asked, more than a little confused and just a little worried for the boys soundness of mind.

"My toad," came his muffled response, for he had crawled halfway under the seat. "I keep losing him."

The compartment door slid open again and a girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth poked her head in.

"Are any of these seats taken? I can't seem to find a place to sit at all," she said as her eyes fell upon the boy under the seat. "Has he lost something?"

"His toad," Alexa answered before he could.

"Oh," the girl said, looking surprised. "Well, I could help you find it, if you like?"

The boy reemerged, looking extremely grateful. "Thanks!"

The girl led the way out of the compartment just as the warning whistle sounded.

Pressing her face against the glass, Alexa waved to her parents as the train slipped out of the station and out into the bright sunlight beyond.

The boy and girl returned nearly a half an hour later, toad in hand, and settled down into their seats.

"I suppose we ought to introduce ourselves," the girl said in a bossy voice as she shut the compartment door. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"I'm Neville Longbottom," the boy replied as he set his toad onto the empty seat beside him, "and my toad's name is Trevor."

They looked expectantly at Alexa, who shifted uncomfortably in her seat before saying, "I'm Alexa Lott."

"And what's your cats name?" Hermione Granger prompted.

Alexa lifted an eyebrow just as her cat let out a low growl. "Morgana."

"Ooh, like the evil witch who worked with Merlin?" Hermione Granger asked excitedly. "I've read all that I can about magic. I'm not from a magical family, you see, and so I was so surprised when I got my letter. What about you? Are you from a magical family?"

Alexa shook her head. "No. we had no idea that I could do magic, though I think my grandmother might have known."

"Is she a witch?" Hermione Granger wanted to know while Neville Longbottom looked out of the window, chewing on his lower lip.

"No, but I think maybe someone in my family might have been," Alexa mused. "She used to tell me all sorts of stories when I was little about witches. I'm starting to think maybe they might not have just been bedtime stories."

Hermione nodded knowingly. "My mum and dad – they're dentists – didn't believe it at first. I mean, I had only ever really done magic when I was alone, but just before I had gotten my letter, I had accidently turned my mum's hair blue! She's was so surprised and none of us understood it. But now we do. And her hair is back to its normal brown," she added with a nervous laugh.

They turned their attention to Neville and Hermione asked, "What about you? You seem to come from a family of witches and wizards."

"My Gran used to think I was a Squib. I never did magic," Neville explained nervously, "but then I got my letter and, well, here I am."

"What's a Squib?" Alexa wondered.

"Someone non-magical who was born into a family of magic," Hermione recited immediately.

"They're, er, not really accepted in the Wizarding world," Neville explained.

Alexa could almost understand why, but she also could hardly believe what she was hearing. Perhaps she had been descended from someone who had been a Squib and the rest of her family had forgotten all about her.

It made her wonder who the rest of her family might be.

A little after noon, a plump witch pushing a trolley full of sweets stopped.

Feeling more than a little hungry with a pocket full of Galleons and Sickles and Knuts, Alexa jumped up eagerly as the witch slid the compartment door back.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked.

Alexa was looking forward to a Hershey bar, but when she approached the cart, she found, not Hershey bars, but Licorice Wands, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Chocolate Frogs.

"Unless you like nasty surprises, don't get Bertie Botts," Neville advised as he took two Pumpkin Pasties, a few Cauldron Cakes, and a handful of Licorice Wands.

Hermione returned with Droobles Best Blowing Gum and several Chocolate Frogs.

"Mum and Dad wouldn't be pleased at all this sugar," Hermione said as she unwrapped a Cauldron Cake.

Indecisive, Alexa got a bit of everything, even Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"Ah, no, I've lost Trevor again," Neville howled as the witch disappeared down the corridor.

Hermione set her sweets aside and, together, the two of them headed out of the compartments and out of sight.

Settling back in her seat, Alexa ripped open a Chocolate Frog and bit off its head as she picked up a card that had come with it.

To her pleasant surprise, it was a Morgana card.

"'Also known as Morgan La Fey, she was a Dark sorceress who was the half-sister of King Arthur and an enemy of Merlin'," Alexa read quietly to herself.

Grinning widely, she tucked the card in her pocket and let Morgana out of her cage.

"I think it's time to let you stretch your legs," she told her cat as Morgana leapt out of the cage and onto the seat across from her.

After a while, Hermione and Neville reappeared, toad in hand, and settled back down into their seats.

They were buzzing with excitement and Alexa, more curious than she would care to admit, asked them what was going on.

"Harry Potter is on this train," Hermione said excitedly.

"Er, who?" Alexa asked, feeling stupid.

"Goodness, I forgot that you're from a Muggle family," Hermione laughed. "I read all about him in some of the books I got."

"I didn't hear about him at all," Alexa said.

"They were just for extra reading," Hermione explained quickly. "Mum and Dad thought it might be a good idea if I had a bit more knowledge going into school, you see? Anyways, Harry Potter is the one who survived a Killing Curse. No one has ever survived it before, and that's one of the reasons why he's so famous."

"He's famous?"

Neville nodded. "Gran used to tell me about him all the time. His parents, James and Lily Potter, were working with Dumbledore to stop You-Know-Who, only You-Know-Who decided that Harry would be the one who would stop him, so he tried to kill him when he just a year old."

Alexa stared at Neville, flabbergasted. "You mean to say a Dark wizard tried to kill a baby?"

"Yes, only he couldn't," Hermione cut in. "No one knows why or how Harry survived, but that same night, You-Know-Who vanished. That's the other reason why Harry's so famous. He stopped the darkest wizard of our time. He was murdering Muggles, taking out whole lines of witches and wizards that had been around for centuries. And Harry stopped him. But he's an orphan now and he was sent to live with his Muggle relatives. He seems terribly nice," Hermione added.

"I wonder what House he'll be in," Neville said curiously.

"If he's anything like his parents, I'm sure it'll be Gryffindor," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"I bet I'll be a Hufflepuff," Neville said morosely. "My mum and dad were in Gryffindor, but I'm nothing like them at all."

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff," Hermione told Neville sternly. "It's a lovely House. Better than Slytherin."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Alexa wanted to know. "What is so bad about Slytherin?"

"It's full of dark witches and wizards," Hermione said waspishly. "Hardly anyone good ever comes out of that House. It's where You-Know-Who was Sorted when he was at Hogwarts."

Alexa frowned deeply and turned her attention out of the window at the passing countryside.

Was she sure she wanted to be in a school where so much hatred was centered on one House simply because they produced the darkest wizards?

But she pushed the thought aside as the sky outside began to darken. The corridors became filled with rowdy students and Hermione, looking cross, slipped out of the compartment as the lights overhead flickered on.

"We must be getting close," Neville said in hushed tones.

Alexa swallowed nervously and sat perched on the edge of her seat as the night fell and Hermione reappeared, announcing that they were getting close to Hogwarts.

"We ought to change," she suggested, her voice shaking as she opened her trunk and removed her robes.

Once Alexa had pulled on her own robes, she noticed that the train had begun to slow down and she stuffed a growling Morgana back into her cage as the train edged to a stop.

The platform outside became flooded with students and, after being told that their belongings would be taken up to the school separately, they followed the rest of the students off of the train where a loud voice was calling over the crowds, beckoning the first years towards him.

Hagrid stood off to the side and, as she approached, Alexa spotted a grey boarhound at his feet.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here! All right there, Harry?"

Alexa craned her neck, looking for the boy she was certain was Harry Potter when Hagrid said, "C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Following the bobbing lantern, Alexa tried not to fall as they made their way down a steep slope, following a path with trees blocking out the night sky overhead.

From ahead of her, Alexa just barely made out Neville's blond head. She could hear him sniffling and wondered if he had lost his toad again.

Hardly anyone spoke, and those who did kept wondering about the Sorting and Hogwarts itself.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid said over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

The trees suddenly opened up and Alexa found herself looking up at a dark, glittering castle perched on the edge of cliff overlooking a dark lake.

Someone behind her let out a "Ooooh!" and Alexa felt relieved that she had at least seen Hogwarts.

 _If this is a mistake, then at least I've seen it,_ she thought as Hagrid told them to climb into a boat at the edge of the lake.

"No more'n four in a boat!" he told them as Alexa made her way into an empty one where was joined by a tall black boy, a sandy haired boy, and the girl named Hannah Abbott.

"Hello again," Hannah greeted as she moved to sit beside Alexa. "It's nice to a see a familiar face."

Alexa grinned. "I must say that I agree."

Hagrid, who had a boat all to himself because of his size, shouted, "Everyone in? Right then – FORWARD!"

The boats lurched forward of their own accord and they glided silently across the lake towards the castle.

No one spoke as they all craned their necks back to watch the great castle grow larger and larger. it blotted out the sky behind it, taking with it the small sliver of moon.

"Heads down!" Hagrid called back to them as the boats reached the cliff.

Alexa ducked as her boat passed through a curtain of ivy to reveal an opening in the cliff face.

The boat moved through a dark tunnel before they reached an underground dock where they disembarked from their boats and clambered up onto the slippery rocks.

"Oy, you there! Is this yer toad?" Hagrid asked as he checked the boats.

"Trevor!" Neville cried out in relief, taking his toad from Hagrid and stowing him in the pocket of his robes.

Following behind Hagrid, they hurried up the passageway before coming out onto the grass right below the castle.

Walking up a flight of stone steps, Hagrid glanced back, a wide grin on his face as they huddled around a large oak door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised one of his massive fists and knocked three times on the oak door.

The door swung open immediately to reveal a tall witch in emerald green robes, her black hair pinned up in a bun atop her head. She had a stern face and Alexa felt herself take an automatic step back.

The woman, quite frankly, terrified Alexa.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid announced as he stepped aside.

"Thank you, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall said. "I'll take them from here."

Opening the door wide, she stood aside and let the students enter into an entrance hall so big, Alexa had to turn all the way around to see it all. Her neck hurt from craning it back so far, but she was in awe with how grand it was.

Flaming torches were spaced out along the stone walls, illuminating the hall in a warm, flickering glow. The ceiling, Alexa had discovered when she had looked up, was so high that she couldn't even see it, and before her sat a great marble staircase that led to the upper floors.

Professor McGonagall led them across the hall and into an empty antechamber just off the hall.

As they passed large double doors, Alexa could hear the sounds of hundreds of voices just beyond and surmised that the rest of the school was already assembled.

As they crowded into the room, Professor McGonagall waited for them all to enter the room before saying, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.

"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards," Professor McGonagall went on. "While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Alexa didn't miss how Professor McGonagall's eyes lingered on Neville and a tall boy with red hair before she turned and left them standing alone.

Combing her fingers nervously through her hair, Alexa looked around and found Hannah Abbott standing beside her.

"How many people do you think are out there?" Alexa wondered.

Hannah shrugged, looking as nervous as Alexa felt.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's a lot," Hannah replied.

Feeling more than a little nervous, her legs feeling like jelly, Alexa fell silent as she waited for Professor McGonagall to return only to be scared half to death when several people let out ear piercing screams.

"What on earth?" Alexa cried out until she spotted several ghosts passing through the wall opposite them and into the chamber, seemingly oblivious to the students before them.

"Forgive and forget, I say," a fat little ghost was saying, "we ought to give him a second chance –"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?" a tall ghost in a ruff and tights replied patiently. "He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?"

The ghost in tights seemed to have just noticed them and no one was eager to speak up.

"New students!" said the Friar excitedly, beaming widely at them all. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few brave souls nodded mutely and Alexa scooted closer to Hannah, who gripped Alexa's arm tightly in turn.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff," the Friar said delightedly. "My old House, you know."

"Move along now," came a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start."

To Alexa's relief, Professor McGonagall came striding in and the ghosts floated through the opposite way, continuing on the way they had started and leaving Professor McGonagall and the students alone.

"Now, form a line," she told them and everyone hurried up to form what Alexa thought was a poor idea of a line. "And follow me."

With Hannah behind her and a tall girl with dark brown hair in front of her, Alexa followed the others out of the small chamber, through the entrance hall, and in through the double doors into the Great Hall.

The room was incredible, Alexa thought as she gaped openly. There were thousands of candles floating overhead, lighting the room. There were four long tables where the students sat and the two tables that they passed through, Alexa saw blue and yellow on the hoods of the students at the two tables.

The tables were covered with gold plates and goblets, empty at the moment of food, which Alexa assumed wouldn't appear until after the Sorting had finished, though how the food would get there was a mystery to her. Perhaps there were servants or something who brought out the food, she thought as they approached the high table where she supposed the teachers sat.

Right in the middle was a tall man with long silvery hair and beard, where plum colored robes and hat with half-moon spectacles perched on his nose.

Looking away, Alexa noticed that the ghosts were sitting here and there among the students. She spotted the Friar at the table with the yellow hoods and the ghost in the tights at a table at the far end of the hall where she could just make out scarlet hoods.

Turning her eyes to the ceiling, Alexa let out a tiny gasp at the ceiling that looked like the night sky outside. She found it hard to believe that it was a ceiling at all and rather not just opened to the heavens beyond.

They shuffled to a stop as Professor McGonagall wordlessly placed a stool before them and set a ragged pointy hat with patches all over it.

Unsure of what to expect, Alexa looked around nervously and saw that everyone in the Hall was staring at it.

The hat twitched and then the brim opened wide and the hat began to sing:

 _"_ _Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowler's black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of any toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends._

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The hall burst into applause as the Hat finished its song. It gave a little bow to each table and then began still once more.

"I wish we could do it without everyone looking," Alexa whispered to Hannah, who bobbed her head in agreement.

Stepping forward, a long scroll in her hands, Professor McGonagall said, "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"

Hannah let out a little squeak of terror and Alexa gave her hand a comforting squeeze before Hannah stumbled forward and put on the hat where it fell right over her eyes as she sat down.

There was a pause and then the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Alexa clapped loudly as Hannah removed the hat, grinning in relief as she handed it back to Professor McGonagall, and hurried over to the Hufflepuff table. The Friar was waving cheerfully to Hannah and she settled down onto the vacant bench.

"Bones, Susan!"

A red-haired girl moved forward, biting her lip anxiously.

The hat was put on her head and, not a moment later, it shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Susan scurried over to the Hufflepuff table and sank into the seat next to Hannah.

Hufflepuff might not be so bad, Alexa thought to herself as "Boot, Terry" was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" became a Ravenclaw as well, but "Bulstrode, Millicent" became the first Slytherin.

Looking at them, Alexa thought they looked like a rather formidable lot, but they did cheer warmly as Millicent Bulstrode took her seat at their table.

She watched as Crabbe, Vincent was sorted into Slytherin and glanced up at the high table, where the man in the plum robes drank lightly from his goblet.

Alexa knew who he was, of course, but she couldn't imagine anyone so old being so powerful.

As the hat continued to sort the students, Alexa observed that sometimes the hat shouted out the House immediately while, for others, it took longer to deliberate.

The sandy-haired boy who had been in Alexa's boat had been on the stool for nearly a minute before it sorted him into Gryffindor.

When Hermione Granger was called, she ran forward eagerly and shoved the hat onto her head. Alexa had to force herself not to laugh while Hermione sat stock-still.

After what felt like ages, the hat finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" and the red-haired boy in front of her let out a loud groan.

How rude, Alexa thought angrily as Hermione hurried to the Gryffindor table. How would he like it if someone let him know that they were disappointed or didn't like that he had been sorted into a House?

After "Li, Sue" was sorted into Slytherin, Neville was called up and, just like Hermione, it took the hat a while to decide on a house. When it finally shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" he ran off with the hat and, amid raucous laughter, had to return it to Professor McGonagall before stumbling over to the Gryffindor table.

"Lott, Alexa."

Alexa's stomach dropped as she shuffled towards the stool.

Sitting on it, Professor McGonagall dropped the hat on her head and the hall was immediately covered from sight as the hat fell over her ears.

"There's no need to fear," a voice in her ear said, "you're where you ought to be. You have a strong desire to prove yourself, yes indeed, and you are incredibly loyal. What shall I do with you, eh?"

 _I don't care, just put me where I belong,_ Alexa thought as she clutched her hands in her lap.

"No personal preference? How unusual," the hat mused. "All the same, I think the best place for you will be SLYTHERIN!"

The hat shouted out the last word and Alexa felt a sharp stab of fear as she lifted the hat off and handed it back to Professor McGonagall before making her way over to the Slytherin table.

They were cheering for her while the rest of the school glared at her.

Perhaps she should have asked the hat to not put her in Slytherin, she thought morosely as she settled down into an empty spot next to a boy with light brown hair.

"Welcome to Slytherin," he said wryly as "MacDougal, Morag" was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Alexa swallowed past a lump in her throat as "Malfoy, Draco" joined Slytherin.

He had white-blond hair, a pale, pointed face, and storm grey eyes.

There was an air about him that Alexa didn't like, but she kept her eyes downcast as he dropped into a space between two bulky boys who had been sorted earlier, though she forgot their names, and they immediately started whispering as "Malone, Roger" was sorted into Hufflepuff.

When "Potter, Harry" was called, the entire room burst into excited whispers and Alexa found herself craning her neck to get a better look at him.

He had untidy black hair and wore round glasses, which had fallen down on his nose a bit as he approached the hat.

Pushing them back up his nose, Harry then put the hat on his head and the hall waited with bated breath for the hat to sort him.

After a tense minute, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and Harry shakily made his way over to the Gryffindor table, which was cheering so loud Alexa was surprised the floating candles overhead didn't fall.

She could hear someone chanting but couldn't make out the words as the cheering intensified.

When the room finally fell quiet once more, the remaining six students were sorted, ending with "Weasley, Ronald", who was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Zabini, Blaise", who was sorted into Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and carried the Sorting Hat out of the room.

Albus Dumbledore got to his feet and, beaming widely at the students with his arms opened wide, he said, "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

Albus Dumbledore sat back down as everyone clapped and cheered for him.

Alexa, more than a little confused, turned to the boy next to him.

"Is he mental or something?" she wanted to know.

"He's senile, right enough," the boy said scathingly, "but my mum says he's a damn good wizard. I reckon she must be right because he's never proven her wrong. I think he's a fool, honestly, but there's nothing I can do about it. do you want some ham?"

Alexa looked away from the boy, startled to discover that the entire table was laden with food.

There were plates of chicken, of pork and roast beef, sausages, steak, potatoes, chips, peas, carrots, and Yorkshire pudding.

Her stomach rumbled and she began filling her plate up with whatever was in her reach.

"I'm Liam Corcoran," the boy said as he filled his goblet up with an orange drink. "Would you like some pumpkin juice?"

"Er, sure," Alexa said uncertainly, watching as he filled up her goblet before setting the glass pitcher back down. "I'm Alexa Lott, by the way."

Liam smirked. "I know. I watched you get sorted."

She flushed and turned away, poking at her potatoes.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'm probably the only one who remembers first year's names," Liam tried to reassure her. "It's a strange habit of mine left over from when I went to Muggle school."

Alexa lifted her head at that.

"Are you from the Muggle world?" she asked eagerly.

He shook his head. "Nah, but my parents didn't want to teach me themselves, so they sent me off to Muggle school until I came here."

"And are both your parents wizards?" she asked timidly.

"My dad's a pureblood," Liam explained as he piled more ham onto his plate, "but my mum is a half-blood. Dad was in Ravenclaw and Mum was in Gryffindor. They weren't exactly thrilled to hear I'd been sorted here, but I can't change it."

"Did they treat you differently?" Alexa wanted to know.

"At first," Liam admitted. "But they eventually got over it. What about your parents?"

Knowing that Slytherin only really admitted pureblood students, Alexa was unsure if she should tell him that her parents were both Muggles, but she was saved from answering when the boy beside Liam snatched his attention away, saving Alexa from answering.

Once dinner had vanished, dessert appeared and, once again, Liam shifted his attention back to her.

"Don't worry about what you've heard about us Slytherin's," Liam told her as he grabbed an apple tart. Alexa chose chocolate ice cream and listened as Liam spoke. "We're not all bad, honestly, and really, every House has had a dark wizard come from it. We stick together, so now that you're one of us, no matter your parentage, you'll always have Slytherin's to support you."

Alexa liked that thought and when his attention shifted back to his friend once more, she decided that maybe being a Slytherin might not be so bad.

* * *

 **A/N:** As you might obviously see, I did take directly from _Philosopher's Stone_. Why? Because I wanted to be accurate with the Sorting. I also used the names from JK's Original Forty while simultaneously sticking Alexa in between Neville and Morag MacDougal (who I think was originally named Isobel MacDougal, but I'm not sure). Anyways, sorry about the extra long chapter and maybe, next time, I'll be able to figure out a better - and shorter - stopping point. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** So maybe I won't be updating every day. I think I set myself up to fail. But here's another chapter and, as always, please enjoy!

* * *

As the feast wound down and Alexa could feel herself grow heavy with exhaustion over the day's excitement, Albus Dumbledore stood up once more as the remnants of their meal vanished from the tables and the room fell silent.

"Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should not that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.

"I have been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you all that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Alexa looked at Liam, who frowned back, looking equally confused, before she returned her attention to Dumbledore.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore cried and Alexa noticed that most of the other teachers seemed to have forced smiles on their faces as Dumbledore gave his wand a flick. A long golden ribbon flew out of the end of his wand and floated high above the tables, twisting itself into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," Dumbledore told them, "and off we go!"

The school sang out:

 _"_ _Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

 _Teach us something please,_

 _Whether we be old and bald,_

 _Or young with scabby knees,_

 _Our heads could do with filling_

 _With some interesting stuff,_

 _For now they're bare and full of air,_

 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

 _So teach us things worth knowing,_

 _Bring us back what we've forgot,_

 _Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

 _And learn until our brains all rot."_

Alexa had kept her mouth clamped shut as, all around her, the school sang in various different tunes.

Dumbledore conducted the last two singing, twins with the same red hair as the boy had disapproved of Hermione Granger's House choice, who had chosen a sort of funeral march.

When they had finished, everyone clapped, with Dumbledore being among those who clapped the loudest.

"Ah, music," he said as he wiped his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Alexa and the other Slytherin first years followed a tall, dark-haired girl and a broad shouldered boy with tightly curled red hair out of the hall.

She was in the front of the group of first years and seemed to be unable to keep from shuffling her feet as her eyes grew heavy.

"The Slytherin common room is towards the dungeon," the girl explained as she led the way from the Great Hall, through the entrance hall, and up the marble staircase before turning left and heading down a long corridor lit by the same torches in the entrance hall.

They followed the two teenagers down the corridor, took a sharp left, headed down several flights of stairs, and ended up in a chilly corridor.

"This is the easiest way to the Slytherin common room," the boy informed them as they huddled around a stone wall. He pointed to the wall behind him. "We have a password that gets you in and it changes every two weeks. Remember it because if you get locked out, you might be out here for a while and Peeves does not play nice."

Alexa was just about to ask who exactly Peeves was when the boy said the password and a stone door hidden in the wall slid open.

The girl stepped in first and the boy stood back until the other first years had entered the common room.

The first thing Alexa noticed was the greenish light coming in from what looked like windows. Hanging from the ceiling were silver lamps casting a green glow and a fireplace with an intricately designed mantelpiece was before her.

High-backed black leather chairs faced the fireplace and were dotted here and there about the common room. They were all empty and Alexa supposed it was because they were the first back to the common room.

"Hurry up," the girl snapped when a few people in the back made their way slowly into the room. "Now, the password, as Marcus told you, changes every two weeks." She pointed towards a board on their left where Alexa saw notices and pieces of paper pinned to it. "Pay attention to that. It'll tell you what the new password will be. And never, ever let anyone into our common room or tell them our password. Not a single outsider has stepped foot in here for centuries and we'd quite like to keep it that way.

"In your dormitories, you'll find your trunks and the like are already there," she went on. "There are windows in the dorms as well, and sometimes the Giant Squid passes by, along with a few other underwater creatures. They obviously can't harm you, so don't be worried. Now off to bed." She clapped her hands, making Alexa jump. "You lot have got a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Oh, and don't trust Peeves," she added warningly as they had started to head towards their dormitories. "He'd rather watch you get stuck on the trick stair than help you out."

Following behind Millicent Bulstrode, they entered their dormitory and Alexa found herself staring in awe.

The beds were marvelous things with velvet emerald curtains, silky green covers embroidered with silver thread. And sitting at the foot of the bed directly in front of her was Morgana, whose yellow eyes had narrowed at Alexa's entrance, tail flicking in obvious agitation.

"Whose cat is that?" asked a girl with chin length black hair, her tone snobby.

"Er, she's mine," Alexa said as she hurried over to her bed.

"Well keep it away from me," the girl sniffed. "I don't like cats."

Alexa bit her tongue, knowing it would do no good to argue with the girl, and instead got dressed for bed.

The girl Alexa recognized as Sue Li looked nervous and, after Millicent Bulstrode, the snotty girl, and a girl with light blond hair that curled at the ends had left, Alexa asked her what was wrong.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Sue Li asked.

Alexa shook her head, moving Morgana out of the way. "Of course not."

Sue sat on the edge of Alexa's bed, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

"What is it?" Alexa pressed.

Sue hunched her shoulders, her hands grasping her elbows tightly. "Mum will be so upset that I wasn't put in Ravenclaw."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Alexa said soothingly, but Sue shook her head.

"No, you don't understand," she cried. "When Mum finds out that I'm… _here_ …she'll go mental! She hates Slytherin. She once had a friend who was a Slytherin who ended up betraying her in fifth year. Mum told me she used to not mind the Slytherin's, but after her friend cheated off of her and got away with it…well, it was never the same."

"It seems like a lot of people will be disappointed when they've found out we've been sorted here," Alexa sighed.

"Not my parents," the snotty girl said as she, the blond girl, and Millicent returned. "I think my parents would have died if I'd been sorted anywhere else."

Millicent nodded fervently. "Same with mine." Her voice was husky and deeper than Alexa would have thought it would have been. She was a bulky girl and she towered over Alexa easily.

"What about your parents?" the snotty girl wanted to know as she settled into her bed. "Do they care?"

Alexa shrugged. "Not really," she said truthfully.

"I'm Pansy," the girl said with what Alexa thought was her idea of a smile. "My parents are friends with nearly everyone important."

Sue hopped off Alexa's bed and got into her own, burrowing deep under her covers while Millicent turned to sift through her trunk.

"What about your parents?" Pansy inquired. "Do I know them?"

"No," Alexa said coldly while Morgana slunk to the end of her bed and sat, staring in Pansy's direction.

Pansy eyed Morgana curiously then shrugged and pulled her curtains shut.

Alexa could hear her shifting in her bed as she settled back in her own bed.

She felt Morgana's weight as she approached.

Stroking Morgana absentmindedly, Alexa stared up at the green canopy overhead and allowed herself to think about home for the first time since she had boarded the train.

Were her parents missing her? Did anyone at her school notice her absence? Did they care?

Morgana curled up into Alexa's side, purring in loud contentment while Alexa struggled to find sleep and shut her mind down.

She would write tomorrow, she resolved as the sounds of her fellow dorm mates heavy breathing began to ease her into sleep where she dreamt that she had returned home and everyone she knew had gathered around her house, carrying pitchforks and torches, screaming, accusing her of being a witch.

Alexa shot up in bed, drenched in sweat, causing Morgana to give a disgruntled meow at the disturbance.

It took her a while to fall back asleep and when she did, it was only a light sleep where she awoke at every light noise.

* * *

 **A/N:** Please review! I promise I read every one! And thank you, Taz taz, for liking my story!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Alright, let me put it this way: you'll get your chapters when you get them. There's too much going on for me to post one every day, let alone write enough to do that. But moving on, I suppose I ought to make a disclaimer saying that I am not Jo Rowling, that I am not making a profit off of this, and that I do this simply for enjoyment and for others free entertainment. Carry on.

* * *

Sitting in the Great Hall, staring at her eggs and toast, Alexa listened to the excited chatter around her. nerves for the day ahead of her had taken her appetite, and so she sat with her breakfast before her untouched for the last half hour.

"You have to eat something," Sue said as she dropped into the seat next to her. "First day nerves aren't fun, but you'll be glad when you aren't starving before it's even close to lunch."

"We have Transfiguration first," Alexa said, prodding her eggs, "and it's with that woman who brought us in here last night. She looks terrifying."

Sue laughed. "Professor McGonagall? My mum says she's strict, but not terrifying. Stay on her good side and you'll do fine."

"And what about the other teachers?" Alexa wondered as she abandoned her eggs for her glass of orange juice. "Do you know much about them?"

"Professor Flitwick – he's the tiny wizard beside that man who brought us up to the school last night – teaches Charms," Sue explained. "He's alright. He's head of Ravenclaw and McGonagall is head of Gryffindor."

"Then she definitely won't like us no matter how hard I try to be good," Alexa said glumly.

Sue let out a sigh. "She will if you're not like the rest of the House."

"What's the supposed to mean?"

Liam had taken the seat across from them and was pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

"What?" Sue's face was turning a bright red.

"What does the rest of our House act like?" Liam wanted to know, leaning against the table. "I know we can be snotty sometimes and more than a little pretentious, what with most of us being purebloods and all that, but that's about as bad as it gets."

"She's still adjusting," a girl with bright red hair chastised Liam as she sat on his right, "leave her be. I know my parents were upset when I got here, though since my oldest sister had been Sorted here, I don't think they were too terribly surprised." She smiled at Sue and Alexa then added, "I'm Katrina Lucas. Most of my family's been in Ravenclaw, yet here I am, just like my sister, in good old Slytherin."

She was grinning widely and Alexa nearly smiled back, but at that moment, Sue grabbed Alexa's arm and pulled her from her seat.

"Let's start finding our classrooms," she said as they walked out of the Great Hall. "It wouldn't do to get lost on our first day."

They spent the remainder of the morning outside of their Transfiguration class while Sue explained the rest of the teachers.

"Snape is head of Slytherin and teaches Potions," Sue said as a loud group of girls passed by. "He favors our House, so we've got that in our favor. Professor Sinistra teaches Astronomy. My dad said he really liked that class, but he's always been a fan of looking at the night sky and studying it. my mum always jokes that Dad was meant to be a centaur, not a wizard."

Alexa smiled meekly at that as students began showing up behind them.

"Professor Sprout is head of Hufflepuff and teaches Herbology," Sue went on. "Not something I'm interested in, personally, but then again, learning about the magical plants can be fun. Professor Quirrell teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts and Professor Binns teaches History of Magic. He's a ghost," she added with a grin.

"And he's teaching?" Alexa raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"The story is that one night, he was reading and fell asleep in his chair," Sue said excitedly, "but when he got up the next morning, he left his body behind. He's been teaching for a very long time. My mum warned me, though, that that class is extremely dull. She says it's his voice."

At that moment, Professor McGonagall strode forward and opened the classroom door, stepping aside to let them in.

Alexa and Sue took a desk in the middle of the room while the rest of the class filed in.

Pansy and the blond girl took the desk to the right of them while Millicent was stuck in a desk with one of the two burly boys.

"Good morning," Professor McGonagall greeted. "In this class, you will learn how to turn objects into something else." She pulled out her wand and turned her desk into a pig before turning it back again.

As it turned out, to Alexa's great disappointment, Professor McGonagall handed out matches which they were to turn into a needle.

By the end of the lesson, no one had managed to turn their match into a needle, though Alexa was sure hers looked a little shinier than it had before.

By the end of the week, Alexa was pleased to discover that she no longer got startled when the owls arrived in the morning as she had done on the first couple of mornings. And on top of that, she had already received two letters from home, one from her parents and the other from Jo, which her parents had forwarded along.

Her parents had wanted to know how the classes were going, if she had met any friends, how she liked the school so far. Alexa wasn't sure how much the owl could carry because she found that there was so much to tell. In the end, however, she described her classes as best she could and explained the different Houses and what being in Slytherin meant.

 _Most people don't like us Slytherin's,_ she had added, _because they think we're all evil. But I find that that's not true. Most of the people I've spoken to are rather nice, actually, aside from a few girls and boys, of course. They come from pureblooded families, so they think they're better than everyone else, but Sue tells me that being a pureblood isn't all it's cracked up to be. I get the feeling, though, that being from a Muggle family isn't exactly a good thing with this House. I think I'm just going to keep it to myself until I know I can trust them with that knowledge. Not many Muggleborns get sorted into Slytherin, you see, so I don't know how they'll feel about my being in their house._

As for Jo, Alexa told her as little as possible, only saying that she had a met a few new friends and that her classes were as good as school could make them.

 _It is school after all_ , she had written. _One can hardly expect the classes to be all that interesting._

Jo had described her own school in great detail and had spoken highly of her maths and literature teachers. Alexa had evasively said that she rather liked one of her teachers despite the fact that she was extremely strict.

It was very difficult to not spill everything, but Alexa knew that telling Jo would be worse than a mistake – it could be the ruin of their friendship and Jo could end up telling everyone she knew that Alexa was a witch and went to a wizard school.

No, she had mused as she'd tied the letters to the owl's awaiting leg, it was best to keep Jo in the dark until she knew that she could trust her with the secret.

On Friday, as Alexa and Sue made their way down to the dungeons for Potions, Alexa overheard the tall ginger boy talking to Harry Potter about how the professor who taught Potions favored the Slytherins.

"It's not fair," the boy complained. "I don't get what's so great about Slytherin's anyways. They all end up being evil old pricks."

"It's a shame McGonagall doesn't favor us," Harry Potter said. "It might make our lives a tad easier."

The boy snorted. "Fat chance on McGonagall giving us a break."

Alexa and Sue exchanged amused looks as they queued up outside the classroom.

Spotting Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom towards the front of the queue, Alexa was half-tempted to call out, but she knew that it would be frowned upon for open friendship between the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's, and so kept her conversations to Sue only.

"Yes, he comes by the house all the time during holidays," the pale boy with the drawling voice boasted. "He and my father are quite good friends. They've known each other for years."

Sue lifted her eyebrows at Alexa, who bit back a grin as the professor in question came striding down the hall.

He let the students file in and take their seats before following them.

To Alexa's surprise, like Professor Flitwick, Professor Snape did a roll call. He lingered on Harry Potter's name, saying, "Ah yes. Our new…celebrity."

Beside Alexa, she heard the pale boy, whose name she'd discovered was Draco Malfoy, sniggered with his two buffoons, Crabbe and Goyle.

Snape set aside his parchment of names and began pacing the room as he spoke.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he said, his voice deadly soft. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads that I usually have to teach," he added with a sneer as his beetle black eyes scanned the room.

They landed on a desk diagonal to Alexa and a smirk appeared on Snape's thin lips.

"Potter!" he called suddenly, making half the room, including Alexa, jump. "What would ig et if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Alexa bit her bottom lip, thinking.

Something living death, she thought as Harry said, "I don't know, sir."

"Tut, tut," Snape sneered, "clearly fame isn't everything."

Alexa leaned forward to get a better look at Harry, whose jaw was clenched. On the other side of him sat Hermione, whose hand was stretched so high in the sky, Alexa was surprised it was still attached to Hermione's body.

"Let's try again," Snape said, ignoring Hermione. "Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Stomach of a goat, Alexa thought immediately though she noted that Harry looked stumped. Hermione, however, was nearly out of her seat, her hand still stretched towards the vaulted ceiling.

Alexa could hear Draco and his cronies laughter behind their hands.

"I don't know, sir," Harry said again, frustration lacing his voice.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape asked silkily.

The room was deadly quiet, though Hermione looked as though she might die if Snape didn't chose her to answer his questions.

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape asked.

Now Hermione was standing, her hand still stretched towards the ceiling, while Harry glared at Snape.

"I don't know, sir," Harry replied quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try here?"

Alexa looked back to Snape, whose face was lined in anger as Hermione continued to try and get his attention.

A few people laughed, among those being the three girls Alexa had the misfortune of sharing a dorm with.

"Sit down," Snape snapped at Hermione, who slumped back into her seat, arm hanging limply at her side. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful, it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

Alexa snatched a piece of parchment, hurried up and dipped her quill in her ink, and began scribbling it down.

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter," Snape announced.

To Alexa's immense relief, when Snape paired them up, he put Alexa and Sue together and, while they worked on a potion to cure boils, her eyes kept following Snape, who was criticizing everyone in Gryffindor House and made helpful suggestions to Alexa and Sue and everyone else in Slytherin.

He had just pointed out the perfect way Draco Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when a cloud of acid green smoke and loud hissing filled the dungeon.

Neville Longbottom, who was paired with Harry, seemed to have managed to melt his cauldron.

"How stupid could you be?" Sue wondered under her breath as Snape strode towards the two boys. Neville sat cowering in his seat, moaning in pain as angry boils appeared all over his arms and face.

"Idiot boy!" Snape snarled, clearing away the potion with the wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Boils had popped up on Neville's nose and Alexa could see tear tracks streaking down his round cheeks.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape ordered the sandy-haired boy before rounding on Harry. "You – Potter – why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

Even Alexa could see how unfair that was, but she turned her attention back to her cauldron, forcing herself to concentrate so that she didn't end up creating a mess like Neville's and end up on Snape's bad side, which she had gathered in just the first hour of his class, was not the place she wanted to be.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you liked this new chapter. I am taking from the book, as I have mentioned before, but that's kind of fun to me. I've forgotten half of the details in any case, so having to thoroughly go over it is very fun. See you next time! And please review!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, but here you go! Enjoy!

* * *

 _I hope you will tell me more about this school of yours. I have told you nearly everything I can about mine and I have heard so little from you. Does nothing at all exciting happen there? Do you hate it? Have you made any other friends or do you study alone? What are your classes like? Are you teachers mean or poor teachers?_

 _See? I know so very little and I want to know more, Alexa, and I find it very unfair that I don't know anything._

 _But until you give me more, I will tell you about this past week._

Alexa put the letter down and let out a tiny groan.

They were in the second week of October already and Jo had not given up begging Alexa for details about Hogwarts. Alexa had even written to her parents and asked them what she should say, but they were no help at all.

Sue took the seat across from Alexa, dropping her books down as she sat and, as she pulled out her quill and ink to start their Potions essay, asked, "Rough day?"

Alexa nodded. "Incredibly." She pointed at the letter from Jo. "You remember that Muggle friend I mentioned?"

Sue looked thoughtful for a moment. "Jo?" she inquired and Alexa nodded. "Yes, I remember her. Well, what's happened now?"

"She still keeps asking me to tell me about Hogwarts, but I can't very well tell her I go to a magic school in the Scottish mountains," Alexa explained, pressing her fingers into her eyes, making little white dots appear. "And my mum and dad only said that I should just tell her about my teachers and that's it, but if I do that, I feel like I'm lying to her."

"Just tell her that there's not much to tell," Sue suggested and Alexa dropped her fingers and opened her eyes to see Sue already scribbling away. "I mean, you can't very well break the Statute of Secrecy for a Muggle friend, can you?"

Sighing, Alexa said, "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am," Sue replied lightly, glancing up from her essay briefly. "Now hurry up and write that letter so you can help me with my essay. It's not fair that you're good at Potions and I'm not."

"Yes, but you're good at Charms and I am not," Alexa pointed out and she formulated her reply to Jo. "So I think we balance each other out."

After Alexa sent out her letter, she helped Sue with her Potions essay.

"No, no," Alexa said as she read over Sue's latest paragraph. "You need to crush the beetle eyes then stir the potion _clockwise_ three times _before_ you add the porcupine quills."

Sue let out a disgruntled snort. "I'll get this essay right, I swear."

Alexa laughed. "Come hell or high water, I'm sure you will."

Sue looked up, frowning. "What does that mean?"

"It's, ah, a saying that my grandmother used to say," Alexa said quickly. "She was a Muggle, you see, and used phrases like that all the time."

"So now I know you're not a Pureblood," Sue remarked before returning to her essay.

Alexa had taken great care to keep her blood heritage to herself. She knew of the dislike that ran rampant through her house for the Muggleborns and was not keen on getting ostracized by her fellow Slytherin's for her bloods' lack of purity.

She forced out a laugh. "No, I'm not."

"So what were your parents?" Sue wanted to know, still writing away.

Alexa was saved from answering when a balled up piece of parchment landed on their table.

Sue and Alexa stared at it in curiosity before Alexa reached out and snatched it up while Sue, clearly not as curious about it as Alexa was, flipped through the pages in her Potions book.

Looking around the room, her fingers fumbling to unfold it, Alexa could find nothing out of the ordinary.

As she flattened out the parchment, she read the words scrawled on it in an untidy script.

 _Best not tell anyone your parents are Muggles_

Alexa quickly balled up the parchment once more and stuffed it into her bag.

"What did it say?" Sue wondered.

"Something about an elf, a troll, and someone's mother," Alexa lied smoothly. "I'm going to throw it into the fire before I go to bed. I'm not up to making that trip just now."

Pacified, Sue finished up her essay then headed up to bed while Alexa pretended to do her Transfiguration homework.

Once the common room had mostly cleared, Alexa shoved her books into her messenger bag then pulled out the parchment before crossing to the fire and throwing it in.

While she felt a mild sense of relief at watching the note burning, she was also more than a little afraid.

Someone knew that she was a Muggleborn and, if one person knew, there were bound to be others.

But that's another problem for tomorrow, Alexa thought as she turned her back on the dying flames and made her way to her dormitory.

Still, the worry kept her awake half the night and when she did finally sleep, she slept so lightly that it felt as though she hadn't slept at all.

Since it was Saturday, Alexa decided to go to breakfast early – she couldn't sleep anyways, she thought grumpily – and finish her Transfiguration homework in the library.

The Great Hall was mostly empty when she arrived, but she preferred that. She wasn't up for chatter so early in the morning.

Glancing up at the ceiling, she could see the scorching colors of the sunrise and felt a little more at ease.

They were sunrises she associated with her grandmother, after all.

She had been in the library for nearly three hours when she was joined, by her surprise, by Liam.

"Can I help you?" Alexa asked, careful to keep her voice low as Liam began spreading out his books.

He looked up at her, an innocent expression on his face. "I'm doing homework, like you. I thought that's what the library was meant for?"

She narrowed her eyes. "But there are plenty of empty tables all around. Why did you pick mine?"

"I hate studying alone," he answered simply as he opened his Defense Against the Dark Arts book. He flipped through the book and then stopped nearly halfway through it.

Alexa could make out the depiction of an ugly little creature with spindly arms and tiny wings.

"What is that?" she asked, gesturing at the picture.

"A pixie," Liam replied. "Quirrell's teaching us about them. apparently they are nasty little things and have a tendency to pick people up their ears."

"Lovely," Alexa said.

"Mmm."

They worked in silence for a while before Liam asked, "So do you reckon we've got a chance against Gryffindor this year?"

"Huh?" Alexa asked, looking up from her book. "What are you talking about?"

"The Quidditch Cup," Liam explained. "You know, the four houses compete for it?"

"Oh." Alexa blushed furiously. "Right. Um, well, I dunno. Is our team any good this year? How is Gryffindors?"

"I've heard they've got a secret Seeker," Liam said excitedly, abandoning his homework and leaning across the table. "I overheard Marcus Flint talking about it the other week. He thinks it's Potter, especially after the git didn't get in trouble for disobeying Madam Hooch during your flying lessons."

Alexa had nearly forgotten all about that, though she remembered being worried for Neville, who had fallen off his broom and broken his wrist.

"Oh yeah," she said as that day came flooding back to her. "Malfoy had taken Longbottom's Remberall and Potter went after him. McGonagall came practically running out of the castle and we all swore he was going to be expelled, but he didn't. I don't think I've ever seen Malfoy look so furious."

Liam snorted. "That boy has temper issues anyways. I have never heard someone threaten to tell their father about every little thing the way he does. The wanker thinks he's some great gift to wizardkind because his father is Lucius Malfoy, former Death Eater who escaped Azkaban 'cause he lied about being Imperioused the whole time You-Know-Who was running about, killing Muggles and Muggleborns and anyone who denied him the power of the Wizarding world."

Alexa stared blankly at Liam. She had no idea what he was talking and she knew she wasn't hiding that very well because he looked at her expectantly, but when she didn't offer up any jab at Malfoy, frowned and asked, "Are you sure you're a witch, because you don't seem to know much at all about our world."

She tried to laugh but with Liam staring at her, she felt her heart hammering in her chest and fear that she would be found out. she couldn't bear to spend the next seven years of her life in a house where everyone hated her because of her parents.

Shoving her books into her bag, Alexa stood up so quickly, she knocked her chair over.

She only just set it upright before she sped from the library and hurried down the corridor until the doors to the library were out of sight.

Sinking to the stone floor, Alexa stared out of the window across from her, watching as an owl flew by.

 _They can't know_ , she thought, her breath hitching. _They can't know anything at all. They'll hate me and Sue will stop being my friend. I can't stand the thought of losing Sue_.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Alexa scrambled to her feet and found herself face-to-face with Harry Potter. His red-haired friend was nowhere in sight and it looked like Harry had just rolled around in the dirt.

There were dirt smudges covering his face and hands and his hair, which she had realized was always untidy, looked even worse than usual. There were even specks of dirt on his round glasses which he hadn't bothered to clean off.

"Er, fine," Alexa said quickly.

Harry didn't look convinced and was about to say something more when they heard Liam calling out for her.

"I gotta go."

With that, Alexa spun on her heel and hurried away, leaving behind a very bemused Harry.

When she finally returned to the common room later that day, she bypassed everyone and went straight to her dorm where she sat in the middle of her bed and, with the curtains drawn closed, wrote out a long letter to her grandmother, explaining her dilemma and expressing how much she wished she had never been Sorted into Slytherin before heading to the Owlery to find an owl to send the letter off.

As she watched the owl fly off, a flutter of motion caught her attention and she turned to find a snowy white owl eyeing her carefully.

"Well aren't you a pretty thing," Alexa murmured as she looked at the owl.

It had amber eyes that seemed to be studying her and it wasn't until the owl turned its back on Alexa that she finally headed down the Owlery steps and back to the common room.

To her dismay, she found that Liam was waiting by the door for her and as soon as she stepped inside, he caught her by her arm and, pulling her close so that his mouth was at her ear, said, "I know that you're a Muggleborn."

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter! And, as always, please review!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I know it's been longer than I had planned on, but I got busy this past week and, honestly, lost a bit of motivation for this story. That being said, I hope I'm back though I wouldn't count on it. It's going to be a long weekend ahead of me, so it may be another week before another chapter gets posted. You have been warned.

* * *

Alexa stared up at him, terror coursing through her.

"I-I don't know wh-what you're talking about," she stammered as she ripped her arm free.

Liam rolled his eyes. "Alexa, I know – and it's okay."

"Look, I swear I'm not – what?"

His words sank in and Alexa felt the confusion contort her face.

Pulling her away from the door and over to an empty table, Liam pushed her down gently and took the chair directly beside hers.

"I don't care that you're a Muggleborn," Liam told her, keeping his voice low. He shrugged his shoulders, smirking. "Others might, but not me. I don't care at all about blood purity like half these twats. And I know Sue won't care, either," he added. "Neither of her parents were Slytherins, you know. Now as for Pansy and those other two, yes, they'll care. They'll spread it around our house like wildfire, so keep it from them."

"But how did you even find out?" she wanted to know as she glanced nervously around the room, scared that someone might be overhearing their conversation.

"Earlier when I asked you about our Quidditch prospects," he explained, sitting back in his chair, grinning now. "And when I mentioned Death Eaters and the like."

"But what are Death Eaters?" Alexa asked, curious. "They don't sound pleasant."

"Oh, they're not," Liam agreed, crossing his arms over his chest as his eyes scanned the room. "Death Eaters were You-Know-Who's minions, as it were, back when he was gaining power and, in general, terrorizing all of England."

"How?"

"When You-Know-Who first started getting power," he said, "he started recruiting anyone, willing or not, to be part of his league of killers. These people went about doing his bidding, killing and torturing anyone they felt like. There were a fair few who weren't there willingly. When You-Know-Who was killed, they woke up and were horrified to discover they had killed and what have you. These people were forgiven and accepted back into society. The thing is, though, that many people – like the Malfoy's, who wanted to save their own necks – plead innocent and were forgiven. And most of them now have children who are in this very room with us. It's why they're so hell-bent on pureblood status. They learnt it from their families and it ruins the Slytherin house image. That and most of the evil witches and wizards did actually come from our house, too," he added meekly.

Alexa frowned slightly. "But why would these people want to side with a murderer anyways?"

Liam shrugged. "The power that came along with being at his side and the security of knowing that you and your family were safe from him killing you."

Alexa let a heavy breath and sat back in her seat. "And what really happened to You-Know-Who? A girl in my compartment mentioned it, but I didn't fully understand it 'til now."

"Well, Potter's parents were targeted by him, though no one knows the reason," Liam said. "Most suspect it was because they went against him. Anyways, he showed up at the Potter's house one night and killed both Potter's parents and tried to kill Potter himself only he couldn't. No one knows why or how, but Potter stopped him and we've been free of You-Know-Who ever since. I think it's probably the only worthwhile thing he's done, honestly."

"That hardly seems fair," Alexa chastised; Liam looked back at her, a careless expression on his face. "I mean, the poor boy grew up without his parents because some crazy wizard killed them because they opposed him. How dreadful must that have been for him?"

Liam moved so that his elbows rested on the table. "I heard he was raised by Muggles, though no one knows who or where they live."

"Is it really anyone's business?" Alexa raised her eyebrows in challenge and Liam grinned.

"I don't reckon so."

They stared at each other for a while until Alexa felt so uncomfortable that she cleared her throat and got to her feet.

"I think I'm going to go to bed now," she told him.

"Goodnight," he said with a knowing smile.

She narrowed her eyes at him then made her way to her dormitory where she saw Sue sitting on the edge of her bed, reading a letter.

"My mum wrote," Sue explained as she folded up the letter and stuck it on the table beside her bed. "She's finally getting over the fact that I was sorted into Slytherin. I had to explain to her and Dad about fifty times that not all Slytherin's are evil and I think she's finally starting to understand."

Alexa nodded silently, dressing quickly for bed before crawling under the green covers.

"How about your parents?" Sue asked as she braided her black hair. "Are they angry that you're here and not some nicer house?"

"Sue, I have something to tell you," Alexa began but at that moment, Pansy, Millicent, and Daphne all strode in, chattering loudly.

They ignored Alexa and Sue, as usual, as they got ready for bed.

"Tomorrow," Alexa said quietly to Sue as Daphne hopped onto Pansy's bed, the two giggling while Millicent brushed out her short brown hair.

"What are you two talking about over there?" Pansy asked, her nose scrunched up while Daphne sprawled out on Pansy's bed, her blonde hair spilling over the green cover.

"Nothing," Sue said quickly while Alexa pulled the curtains around her bed closed. She then pulled her blanket up over her shoulders and tried to block out the other girls.

"They're probably complaining about being here," Daphne taunted. "Mummy and Daddy must not like you being in this house. What did your parents want, Sue? For you to be a Ravenclaw? Or how about you, darling Alexa? Did Daddy want you to be a Gryffindor just like him?"

"Shove off," Alexa said, the blanket muffling her voice a little.

"Girl's got bite," Daphne observed, laughing. "I'm impressed."

"Not enough, though," Pansy sneered. "Let's leave them alone. I'm too tired to deal with them right now. Now, tell me, Millie, is that cat of yours still kicking?"

Alexa squeezed her eyes shut as the other three girls continued to talk loudly, not caring at all that Sue and Alexa were trying to sleep.

Tears threatened to choke Alexa as she listened to the others giggling.

 _I want to go home._

The thought ran errantly through her mind as a tear slipped through and onto her pillow.

 _I don't want to be here anymore. I want Mum and Dad. I want to be normal and be able to tell Jo all about my school. I don't want to have to hide who I am or pretend to know what everyone's talking about all the time. I just want to go home._

Alexa cried silently until she finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you liked this new chapter. And yes, I am planning on Hermione and Alexa being friends, mostly because friendless-Hermione always upset me. It seems very cruel to have to go through the first couple of months at a new school completely alone. Anyways, as always, review! I love them very much!


	10. Chapter 10

**So I would like to formally apologize for not updating more frequently. Life has happened and my own novel took the front seat. And while I would like to say that I am back, I can't promise you that. I would like to but I can't. In any case, here is the next chapter and I am sorry that it took two months to get it.**

* * *

Alexa avoided Sue the entire day, her heart hammering in her chest every time she thought about telling Sue the truth. How could she tell her friend that she was Muggleborn?

If only she had been sorted somewhere else, she thought for the hundredth time that day, then she wouldn't have to worry about being abandoned by her friend for not being Pureblood.

Finally, as they left Transfiguration that afternoon, Sue grabbed Alexa's arm, pulling her back from the crowds.

They stood like that until everyone had gone except for McGonagall, who questioned what they were still doing in her classroom.

"Oh, er, I left a book," Sue lied quickly. She held up her Transfiguration book in show then added, "I've found it and now we're leaving."

McGonagall fixed a stern look on both Sue and Alexa, the latter of whom swallowed nervously until Sue dragged her from the room and out into the emptying corridor.

"You have something to tell me, Alexa, and I'll wager it's not something trivial," Sue said as soon as they were out of earshot of McGonagall.

Alexa stared morosely ahead. "I hope you're not terribly hungry. It's not something I want to tell you when other people can hear."

Sue looked flummoxed, but she followed Alexa to the chilly courtyard and the two settled down onto a stone bench while the sky overhead slowly darkened.

"What is it, Alexa?" Sue pressed as she drew her cloak tighter around her. "It's cold out here."

"You have to promise me not to get angry with me," Alexa said, her throat dry. She couldn't look at Sue, couldn't bear to see the look of shame and horror n her friend's face when she told her the truth.

"Why on earth would I get angry with you?" Sue demanded, sounding annoyed.

Alexa took a deep breath then said, "I'm a Muggleborn."

Sue was silent for a moment and when Alexa dared to steal a look at her friend, she was surprised to see Sue with a small smile on her face, shaking her head slightly.

"What?" Alexa asked, jumping to her feet. "What is it?"

"Alexa, I already _knew_ you were a Muggleborn," Sue said softly. "You hardly know anything at all, and even Purebloods know more than nothing when they come here. But it's alright. I don't care about your heritage the way some others might."

She paused and Alexa knew that they were both thinking of the three girls they shared a dorm with.

"So…you're _not_ angry with me?" Alexa was desperate to know.

"How could I be?" Sue asked with a shrug. "I've got my fair share of Muggleborns and even Muggles in my family. I'm not about to not be your friend just because you're a Muggleborn."

"I just thought that, because we're in Slytherin, that you might not like me because of it," Alexa explained in a small voice.

Sue sighed and got to her feet, her hands reaching out for Alexa's.

"I hardly care about what you are, Alexa, just so long as you are a good person, because I cannot, and will not, be friends with someone like Pansy Parkinson," Sue said sternly.

Alexa laughed a little and only just realized she was crying when Sue hugged her.

"Let's just keep this between ourselves, shall we?" Sue suggested as she pulled away. Alexa wiped her eyes and nodded. "I'm sure Mum and Dad will be thrilled to know I've made friends with someone who is not Pansy."

"Or Millicent or Daphne," Alexa added with a small laugh.

It was as they were walking down to the Great Hall for dinner, arm in arm, that Alexa suddenly said, "Liam knows."

Sue stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Alexa up short.

"He _what?_ " she demanded.

"He guessed it!" Alexa exclaimed. "The other night, he told me that he knew. He doesn't care," she added quickly at the look on her friend's face. "He even explained to me about You-Know-Who and who most of the kids are from."

"Yes, they're all children of Death Eaters!" Sue cried. "And I'm sure Liam is too! He could tell his parents about you and then they would tell their kids and then everyone in Slytherin House would know that you're, well… _you know_."

"He won't tell," Alexa said, sounding surer than she felt. "I don't think he would have confronted me about it if he had ulterior motives."

Sue sighed heavily. "Every Slytherin has their own agenda and if you happen to be a casualty of it, then so be it. They couldn't care less."  
Alexa leveled a look at Sue. "We're Slytherin's, Sue. Does that mean we have our own agendas?"

Sue gave Alexa a haughty look and, rather than reply, walked ahead of Alexa and straight in to the Great Hall alone, leaving Alexa standing alone outside the massive doors, the voices from the students filtering out to her.

Her appetite had vanished a while ago and she had no desire to pretend to eat and so, instead, Alexa headed back to the common room where she wrote out quick letters to her parents, Jo, and even her grandmother before escaping to the dormitory just as the first Slytherin's started filing in from dinner.

* * *

On the morning of Halloween, even from the great distance from the Great Hall that the Slytherin common rooms were, Alexa could smell the deliciously thick scent of cooking food and surmised that there would be a feast that night.

Sure enough, when she and Sue walked into the Great Hall, carved pumpkins and live bats hung under a gloomy sky.

To Alexa's relief, the day passed quickly, though she had been thrilled when they had learned an actual charm in Charms class that made object fly.

It was just before lunch that she and Sue found themselves behind a familiar bushy-haired girl.

Sue was busy chattering away about something Alexa had long since stopped listening to upon seeing Hermione Granger's sagging shoulders and hanging head.

Picking up the pace as discreetly as possible, Alexa and Sue were soon just feet behind Hermione and, thus, Alexa overheard what a group of boys ahead of Hermione were saying.

"…no one can stand her," a red-haired boy ahead of them was saying, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

At that moment, Hermione practically ran forward, bumping hard into a boy with untidy black hair that Alexa realized, too late, was Harry Potter.

"I think she heard you," Harry said softly.

"So?" the red-haired boy asked harshly. "She must've noticed that she's got no friends."

After ascertaining the direction Hermione disappeared to, Alexa told Sue she would catch up with her and headed for the girl's bathroom.

Inside, she could hear soft sniffling and Alexa tentatively called out for Hermione.

"Go away," Hermione cried.

Stubborn, Alexa stood before the closed stall door, hands on her hips, and said, "Hermione, come out now."

"I said go away," Hermione said harshly.

"You've got a whole afternoon of classes left," Alexa pressed. "Are you going to skip them all?"

"I'll hex you," Hermione warned, hiccoughing a little.

Knowing very well that Hermione could easily hex her, Alexa stepped back until she bumped into a sink behind her.

"If it means anything at all, I like you," Alexa said gently.

Hermione laughed a little. "You're a Slytherin," she said scathingly. "I can hardly be friends with _you_."

Hurt, Alexa spun on her heel and stomped out into the empty corridor.

After taking several deep, calming breaths, Alexa reasoned with herself that Hermione herself was hurt after that insolent red-haired boys awful comments and that she was lashing out.

"Yes, that's it," Alexa said to herself.

"Start talking to yourself and you'll become a mad woman!" a voice screeched overhead.

Alexa shrieked and jumped back, spotting Peeves the Poltergeist hanging upside-down above her.

"Go away," Alexa said as she started stumbling towards the Great Hall.

Peeves simply cackled madly then vanished, leaving Alexa alone once more.

Once her heart had calmed down, Alexa glanced at the bathroom one last time, debated for a brief moment, then stuck her head inside long enough to say, "Slytherin or not, I would be glad to be your friend, Hermione."

Hurrying away before Hermione could truly jinx her, Alexa sped down to the Great Hall.

Later that evening, during the feast, while Alexa was busy biting in to a candy apple, the Great Hall doors burst open and Professor Quirrell, one hand holding his falling turban on his head, sprinted between two tables up to Professor Dumbledore and, when the entire hall fell silent, said in a terrified voice, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know!"

He slumped to the floor in a dead faint and, not a full ten seconds later, chaos broke out and it took several firecrackers that exploded from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to restore order in the Hall.

"Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately," he roared and, immediately, the two Prefects from Slytherin house leapt into action, ordering the first years up to the front of the queue while, all around her, Alexa heard the same panicked question asked over and over again by those in her house.

"But our dorms are _in_ the dungeons!"

"Does he expect us to sacrifice ourselves for the good of the rest of the school?"

"Merlin's beard, my parents will get him fired if that damned troll takes one step in our direction."

As they were hurrying from the Great Hall, Alexa suddenly wondered if Hermione had left the bathrooms, if she knew at all that there was a troll in the school.

"How could a troll get in the school?" Alexa asked Sue as they walked quickly down the stairs to the dungeons. "I mean, it can't just walk in here, can it?"

Sue shook her head, her face pale. "Of course it can't. I suppose someone must've let it in."

When they were safely back in their dormitory and finishing the feast, Alexa made a mental note to not tell anyone that a troll had managed to find its way into Hogwarts.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed it and please, please review. You have no idea how much it means, not only to me, but to any fanfic writer to get reviews. We really do cherish them.**


	11. Chapter 11

**First off, I would like to thank one reviewer in particular who pointed out that I obviously did not pay attention to what I was posting and, therefore, posted practically the same chapter just differently. Things were amended and I do truly thank you. In my defense, the document is as one, not in individual pieces and whatever I had originally written had been deleted. I didn't think to look on here because I trusted my computer to have everything I had written saved, but it didn't. In any case, I'm back on track, things have been saved at regular intervals, and my writing - though coming slowly - is happening.**

 **Disclaimer that I don't own anything, blah, blah, blah, enjoy.**

* * *

It took days for Alexa to fully comprehend that there had been a troll in the castle and that it had been in the same area as her dorms. Everyone else had seemed to laugh it off, despite the fact that she had overheard how worried many of her fellow Slytherin's had been at the prospect of a troll possibly lumbering its way down to their common room and trapping them inside.

It was harder, still, for her to believe that three Gryffindors her own age had defeated it.

How? she kept asking herself, most especially when she saw the three in question the day afterwards. How had three eleven-year-olds taken out a troll? And why would Hermione even associate herself with two of the biggest oafs Gryffindor had to offer?

Harry isn't too bad, Alexa reasoned with herself as she watched Hermione correct Harry over Potions the next day. She was kind, Alexa could see that, and Harry was kind back. The red-head, however, was still rude as ever. Alexa thought poorly of him and wanted to pull Hermione aside and tell her just what she thought.

But no, she wouldn't do that. Hermione seemed truly happy for the first time since she had seen her on the train. She couldn't – wouldn't – be responsible for ruining Hermione's happiness.

"What's got you thinking so hard?" Sue wondered in a whisper as she set her books down on the library table the day before the first Quidditch match of the season.

"How on earth is it possible that those three took out that troll?" Alexa asked in frustration.

Sue sighed heavily. "Oh, Lexa, we're not going through this again, are we?"

Alexa sat back in her seat, her hands outstretched in a show of disbelief. "They're our age, Sue. How could they taken out that troll? From what I heard, it was massive!"

"Most trolls are," Sue reminded Alexa as she pulled out her Charms book and a fresh scroll. "What was that spell Flitwick told us to work on?"

"Look, all I'm saying is that there is no way those three took care of that troll and got away with it," Alexa persisted, ignoring Sue. "Hermione wouldn't have become friends with them."

Sue leaned against her books towards Alexa, her brown eyes betraying her annoyance. "Just drop it, Alexa. I don't care about what Potter and his friends did. All I care about is passing Charms. So if you don't mind…"

Alexa sat back, defeated, and let her eyes rove over the filled desks. They immediately fell upon the bushy haired girl who, to Alexa's surprise, was sitting with a blonde Hufflepuff girl Alexa immediately recognized as Hannah Abbott, whom Alexa had barely spoken to since being Sorted.

Rather than risk Sue's wrath at not helping her with her Charm's homework, Alexa settled down to the task at hand and, together, she and Sue worked until the lanterns in the library were lit and night had fallen.

It wasn't until the librarian, a stern middle-aged witch, came over and shooed them away.

As she resituated her bag on her shoulder, Alexa said, "Do you ever think what might have happened if you had been sorted into Ravenclaw?"

Sue frowned slightly, brushing her long, black hair over her shoulder. "Sometimes. I know Mum would be happier and Dad might actually write more than once a month, but I've gotten used to being in Slytherin now and can't imagine being anywhere else. I think I would've been a disappointment in Ravenclaw, honestly. I'm not nearly half as smart as Mum."

"You're lucky," Sue added as they made their way down to the common room.

"Why am I lucky?" Alexa asked, eyebrows raised high in confusion.

"You're parents didn't even go to Hogwarts," Sue said, lowering her voice. "They're Muggles, so you don't have to worry about them being disappointed in you being sorted into the 'worst House'."

Alexa made a noise of agreement as Sue said the password to the stone wall.

It slid open and Alexa and Sue stepped inside, making a beeline for two empty chairs by the fire.

Setting her bag on the floor, Alexa had only just settled down into the chair when Morgana hopped up onto the arm of the chair, purring loudly.

"Sometimes, your cat comes over to my bed and watches me sleep," Sue said as Alexa stroked Morgana's chin. "It's creepy and I don't like it."

"Well I can't stop her," Alexa replied as Morgana moved from the arm of the chair to her lap, where she stretched out, her tail flicking absently while Alexa continued to pet her. "As far as I knew, she stayed with me all night."

"She doesn't," Sue said, digging around in her bag and pulling out a book.

"I thought you were done with homework?" Alexa said, her hand stilling over Morgana's side. The cat mewed and Alexa resumed her petting.

"Mum sent this from home," Sue explained as she opened the book. "She said it was time I started reading for fun rather than to learn."

"What's it called?" Alexa said curiously. She remembered reading the book _Matilda_ just last year, borrowing it from the school library. She had briefly thought she was a telekinetic until she received her Hogwarts letter several months later.

"It's a Muggle book that Mum found the other day," Sue answered as she flipped through the book. "Mum likes to go to Muggle bookstores - she finds their books to be fascinating. Anyways, she found this one" – Sue held up the book, revealing the title, _The Mists of Avalon_ – "and thought I would like it."

Alexa felt her lips curve. "It's a big book," she observed and Sue grinned.

"I never did shy away from a book larger than four hundred pages."

Contenting herself to sitting with Morgana while Sue read quietly beside her, Alexa stared blankly at the fire until, after what felt like several hours, Morgana leapt off her lap and she finally stirred.

Realizing that the common room was mostly empty – even Sue had disappeared – Alexa got to her feet, stretching and yawning, and made her way up to the dorm where she found everyone fast asleep.

How long had she sat there in that chair? Had she fallen asleep?

Shrugging it off, Alexa dressed for bed and crawled under the covers and fell asleep quickly and woke early.

Putting her feet lightly to the cold stone floor, Alexa grabbed her bag and padded silently from the room and down to the common room, which was, blissfully, empty.

Pulling out a piece of parchment and her quill and ink, she finally wrote to her grandmother, describing everything as best as she could.

 _I wish I could take a photograph and send it to you because I know I'm not doing Hogwarts justice,_ she wrote towards the end _. The classes are interesting and I've flown on an actual broom! Tomorrow is the first Quidditch match of the year, which where two teams fly around on brooms and throw the Quaffle – a great big ball – into three large hoops that look very much like the wands from bubble bottles. They have to dodge Bludgers, which are these self-powered balls that try and knock people off their brooms. Then there's the Snitch, which one player from each team has to catch, and when they do, the game is over. Most often, whoever catches the Snitch wins the game, but sometimes, if you score enough points with the Quaffle and the opposing person catches the Snitch, you still win. It's all so difficult and someone had to explain it to me because I don't understand it, but I'm excited. It's my house against Gryffindor and that's usually the most anticipated one, probably because of the rivalry._

 _As I said, Slytherin's aren't liked at all, but I'm getting used to being here. Most of the kids in my house are nice, but they don't know I'm Muggleborn. It could change if they find out._

 _The sun's coming up now, so I guess I'll send this off to you. Lots of love, Alexa_.

After folding up the letter, Alexa hurried back up to the dormitory, dressed as quickly and quietly as she could, then left again, hurrying down the halls and up the stairs towards the Owlery.

The air was getting colder and she knew autumn was slowly turning into winter.

What would winter at Hogwarts be like? she wondered. tying the letter to an obliging school owl, Alexa watched it fly away before she made her way back down from the Owlery.

The corridors were chilly already, so she dared not think of what they would feel like in the middle of winter.

She knew perfectly well what winters in Scotland were like, having been at her grandmother's enough times over the years during particularly powerful snow storms. Would classes get cancelled, like Herbology, if the snow was too deep? Or would they have to struggle through the tall snow towards the greenhouses?

Wrapping her cloak tighter around her at just the thought, Alexa made her way towards the Great Hall, which was still fairly empty, and helped herself to some bacon and eggs.

It wasn't until she was draining her second glass of pumpkin juice that Sue took a seat beside her.

"What are you doing up so early?" Sue wondered, looking bleary-eyed as she started in on a bowl of porridge.

Alexa shrugged. "Beats me. I wrote to my grandmother, though. She'll be happy to hear from me."

Sue made a noncommittal noise before pouring a cup of coffee and nearly chugging it before even making an attempt at full conversation.

"Are you excited about the match tomorrow?" Alexa asked as Sue scraped the bowl.

"Hardly," Sue replied. "I've never found Quidditch to be all that exciting, if I'm being honest. But it would be interesting to see how it's done at school rather than a real match."

Alexa's brows furrowed. "Real match?" she repeated.

Sue nodded. "Each country has a team, and much like Muggle sports, there's loads of teams within the country. They all play each other. Anyways, every four years, there's a world cup and, every year, a different country hosts it. if I remember correctly, there'll be one in about three years that'll be hosted here. I'm sure my Mum and Dad will have tickets for it," she added in an off-handed voice. "We went to the last one and I was bored to tears. It lasted far too long."

Alexa, having never seen a Quidditch match, couldn't imagine what could possibly be boring about watching people on brooms try everything possible to win. it was like rugby, she thought, only in the air.

And a bit of netball, she added to herself in an afterthought.

"Come on," Sue said as she drained her second cup of coffee. "I'm not keen on being late for McGonagall's class."

* * *

 **There you have it. The next chapter. Again, I am not promising regular posting because I've lost all motivation - my own novel included - and so writing's just not high up on my list of things to do, sadly. But I hope you enjoy and review. I read them all!**

 **Thanks very much!**


	12. Chapter 12

**So I got inspired and continued to write. Now, with this chapter, there's a heavy hand of Jo's writing, as I was going from the book. _Major disclaimer_ , here, that I do not own anything other than my own characters in this fan fiction.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Alexa awoke to the sounds of excited chatter from the other girls in the dorm as they dressed warmly for the day ahead of them.

Rolling over, Alexa nearly knocked Morgana to the floor, much to the cat's displeasure, and sat up, brushing her hair out of her face before pulling back the emerald curtains just as the dormitory door shut, taking with it the talking that had woke her up.

"About time you get up," Sue said as she picked up her scarf, draping it over her arm. "I was beginning to wonder if I should wake you up or not."

Alexa swung her feet to the floor and stood, stretching, before digging through her trunk for her warmest clothes.

"It's cold out today," Sue told her, "so you'll want to be as warm as possible. No one knows how long this match will take."

"I suppose we'll find out," Alexa replied as she dressed quickly.

Lifting out her own scarf and gloves, she then followed Sue from the dormitory, through the eerily silent common room, and up to the Great Hall where the sound of excitement was even more palpable than what she had woken up to.

"This better be good," Alexa grumbled as Sue made a cup of coffee and, to Alexa's surprise, slid it over to her. "I don't drink coffee."

"You ought to," Sue advised as she poured herself a cup. "And especially since today is going to be freezing. You'll need to have your wits about you in order to keep up."

"Quick, explain it to me again."

As Alexa scarfed down a plate of ham and eggs, Sue gave watered down explanation of the game before Liam dropped into the seat beside Alexa.

He helped himself to a large helping of bacon and a small amount of eggs before Alexa turned to him, saying, "You have a habit of showing up when you're least expected."

Liam looked at her blearily. Clearly he was not awake yet. "I know," he said with a shrug after a moment.

Alexa studied him for a moment, watching as he poured copious amounts of ketchup on his tiny pile of eggs, curling her nose in disgust, before turning her back on him to listen to Sue, who was still talking about Quidditch.

"Look, it's simple," Liam interrupted, his mouth full of ketchup-soaked eggs. He took a swig of orange juice and Alexa had to resist the urge to scrunch her nose at his lack of manners. "Quaffle scores points, Bludgers knock you off your brooms, Snitch ends the game. Keeper defends the goals, Chasers try to get the Quaffle through the hoops, Beaters swing their bats at the Bludgers, and Seekers catch the damn Snitch. Easy as cake."

Alexa and Sue stared at him for a moment then they both shrugged their shoulders and left Liam to his breakfast.

Her eyes were drawn to the center of the table when a burst of raucous laughter cut through the Great Hall.

Clustered together were seven people clad in green and silver sweaters, all debating the best way to make Harry Potter get taken out within the first five minutes.

"They're not very nice, are they?" Alexa noted, drawing Liam's eyes to the Quidditch players.

"Of course not," he said with a snort, lowering his cup of orange juice. "The whole lot of them are nasty. I think the only semi-decent one is Terence Higgs and he's the Seeker. Marcus Flint and the rest?" He waved a hand. "You don't want them to notice you, trust me. Marcus is a fifth year and Quidditch captain. He's also a Chaser and he's brutal."

Liam then gave a quick rundown of the rest of the players, solidifying Alexa's desire to keep as far away from them as possible.

"Higgs is a seventh year, though," Liam added before draining his cup. "He's honestly about as nice a bloke as you'll meet in Slytherin. And quiet," he said in an afterthought.

"Unlike you, then," Alexa teased and Liam grunted.

Before long, people began rising from their tables and filing from the Great Hall. With Liam and Sue, Alexa joined the throng pushing and shoving its way from the Great Hall, through the entrance hall, and out onto the grassy lawn towards the Quidditch pitch.

"How d'you think we'll do today?" Sue asked Liam.

He shrugged as one of his friends caught up. "Hard to say. I've never seen Potter fly before, but if he's as good as I've heard, then there's a chance Gryffindor'll win. But our Chasers are brutal and our Keeper is one of the best I've seen. We might stand a chance, but I dunno…"

"Oi, Liam, Becca wants to know if you'll save her a seat," his friend cut in at that moment.

"Sure, Robbie," Liam sighed. "I'll save Becca a seat."

When the boy named Robbie vanished, Alexa turned to Liam with her eyebrows raised in question.

"Becca is my cousin," Liam explained quickly. "She's probably making one last trip to the loo to make sure she looks as perfect as ever before she deigns to join us in the stands."

They lost Liam as they made their way up the stands and into a seat. Even from how high up they were, it was still difficult to make everything out.

"I wish I had binoculars," Sue bemoaned. "It would make things so much easier."

"We'll remember next time," Alexa promised.

Sue nodded. "I'll just have to get Dad to send me a pair."

"Will he?"

"Oh yes," Sue said. "Dad is a massive fan of Quidditch. I'm sure he'll give me a pair he bought at the World Cup last year. They have instant replay and everything."

"How cool is that?" Alexa said excitedly and Sue grinned widely just as the two teams walked out onto the pitch from opposite directions.

From the left came the Slytherins, all burly and large and, in Alexa's opinion, more than a little scary.

The Gryffindor's were much smaller and not nearly as intimidating as the Slytherins, but even Alexa could see the advantage the Gryffindor's had: they were smaller and would, therefore, cut through the air much faster than the Slytherins.

Alexa spotted Harry Potter walking amongst his teammates, much shorter and holding what was obviously a brand new broom that gleamed even under the gray skies.

Madam Hooch carried out a trunk and set it in the middle of the field. She motioned at Marcus Flint and a tall boy from Gryffindor, who both moved forward simultaneously, and shook hands. Then Madam Hooch gave a quick blast of the whistle and everybody was suddenly rocketing up into the air.

Alexa had never seen anything like it, watching as the players dodged Bludgers and the opposing team. And not two seconds after the players had taken to the skies than a voice echoed through the stands.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too – "

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

Alexa spotted the section of stands where the professors were sitting and saw that, beside Professor McGonagall, was a dark skinned boy holding what looked like a megaphone.

Alexa giggled as the boy named Jordan continued his unusual commentary.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Woods's, last year only a reserve – back to Johnson and – no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like an eagle up there – he's going to sc- no, wait, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors have taken the Quaffle – that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by the Slytherins – that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, clear field ahead and off she goes – she's really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goalposts ahead – come on now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

A loud, collective moan rose up from the Slytherins while, across the stands from them, the sound of Gryffindor cheers shattered the air.

Alexa watched as green and scarlet blurs sped around the Quidditch pitch, throwing the Quaffle to their teammates, dodging Bludgers and each other.

"Slytherin in possession, Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasley's, and Chaser Bell, and speeds towards the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?"

Before Alexa knew it, she saw two players diving towards the ground, neck and neck, when Marcus Flint shot in front of Harry, causing loud boos to rise up from the Gryffindors while the Slytherins around Alexa cheered madly.

"That wasn't fair," Alexa yelled over the cheers to Sue.

She shrugged. "That's Quidditch."

After Madam Hooch had an angry talk with Flint, she gave a free shot to the Gryffindors, which was taken by the Chaser Alexa could just make out as Alicia Spinnet, who threw the Quaffle through the goal without issue.

Most of the Slytherins were disgruntled at Flint getting in trouble for blocking Harry, but Alexa was secretly on the Gryffindors side. Flint could have seriously injured Harry if Harry hadn't stopped in time.

"So, after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating –"

"Jordan," McGonagall said warningly.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul – "

"Jordan, I'm warning you!"

"All right, all right," Jordan said in concession. "Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Alexa leaned forward eagerly as she watched Marcus Flint take the Quaffle, dodging past one of the Gryffindor Chasers before getting hit square in the face by a Bludger.

"…hope it broke his nose – only joking Professor," Alexa heard Jordan say quickly. "Slytherins score – oh no…"

A loud cheer almost shattered Alexa's eardrums just as Sue let out a loud gasp and pointed towards the sky.

Lifting her eyes, Alexa spotted immediately what Sue was pointing at. High up in the air, his broom jerking wildly, was Harry Potter, who was clearly just barely hanging on to his broom.

Without warning, his broom began to roll over and over in the air before giving a wild jerk, swinging Harry off it.

Alexa let out a shriek as Harry clung to the handle of the broom by his fingertips, the broom still jerking, rising higher and higher into the air.

The two Gryffindor Beaters both tried to get Harry safely onto their own broom, but when they got closer, Harry's broom jerked higher until Harry hovered a dizzying height in the sky. The Beaters had resorted to circling below Harry, clearly hoping that, should he fall, one of them would catch him.

He rose steadily higher and higher, the two Beaters rising with him, his broom still jerking and bucking until, all of a sudden, it stopped.

Harry quickly clambered back on to his broom and Alexa couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, as did most of the stands.

Then, just as Alexa was getting her heart to calm down, Harry sped towards the ground amid gasps and shrieks from those around him.

He clapped a hand to his mouth, as if he were fighting the urge to be sick, and coughed out a tiny winged golden ball.

Holding it above his head, he shouted, "I've got the Snitch!"

The players lowered themselves to the ground and, all around Alexa, she could hear the confusion in everyone's voice.

"He nearly swallowed it," a girl behind Alexa said in disgust. "Surely that doesn't count."

But it did.

Gryffindor won the match by one hundred and seventy to sixty and the stands slowly emptied while, out on the field, Alexa could still see Marcus Flint arguing heatedly with Madam Hooch.

The Slytherins made their way angrily back to the common room, dropping into chairs and sofas to discuss how Gryffindor always managed to cheat.

"It's not fair," a boy to Alexa's right snapped as she and Sue settled down at a table closest to one of the windows. The Giant Squid floated by at that moment and Alexa watched him go before turning back in to what was being said. "Gryffindor's always win, always. And now with Potter on their team – a full year younger than what's allowed – they're getting away with more."

"It's favoritism," Alexa heard the familiar drawl of her least favorite Slytherin say. "Dumbledore has a favorite and it's Potter. When I tell my father, he'll set it right."

Alexa nearly laughed aloud as the collective groans went over the Slytherins closest to Draco Malfoy, who seemed not to notice the obvious dislike the rest of his house felt towards him.

"It's always about his father," Sue grumbled as she opened her book. "It's hard to believe anyone who came from a family like his produced such a whiny boy."

"A family like his?" Alexa asked, frowning. She knew Malfoy's father had been a Death Eater, but had his family been dark like that for centuries?

"The Malfoy family is one of the oldest, longest surviving pureblood line left," Sue explained quietly, lowering her book slightly. "Before his father, it was already known that the Malfoy family sympathized with the Dark Arts and the purification of the lines. They hate Muggleborns and Muggles equally. If they ever found out a Muggleborn was in their house, they would do everything in their power to destroy them and send them packing to another school."

"Another school?" How she hated knowing next to nothing about the Wizarding world.

"There are two others that are the closest to us," Sue told her, her book completely forgotten now. "There's Beauxbatons in France and Durmstrang in Scandinavia. There are plenty of others, too, most notably the all-girls school in the United States. I believe it's called Salem Witches Institute. There are others, one in Africa, if I remember correctly, and another in Japan."

"I just assumed that Hogwarts was only one," Alexa admittedly stupidly.

Sue waved off her worry. "Most people don't know about the other schools, honestly. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are the closest to us and, to be honest, my parents briefly debated on sending me to Beauxbatons when I was younger. They seemed to think it was safer."

"Safer?" Alexa frowned.

Sue bit her lower lip then said, "You know, in case You-Know-Who returned. At least, that way, I would be out of harms way. He wouldn't dare reach outside of England."

"Maybe," Alexa said dubiously.

"Well anyways, he's gone now and I got to come here instead, which I much rather prefer," Sue said before lifting her book once more and disappearing behind it.

Alexa sat quietly for a while before she spotted Morgana sitting directly in front of Liam, who looked like he was trying to write an essay but her cat was in the way.

Getting to her feet, Alexa made her way quickly over to him and lifted Morgana off his parchment.

"I'm so sorry about that," Alexa said amid Morgana's offending mews. "She normally only does that to me."

Liam shrugged. "I liked the company, though I'll admit that I do need to get this essay written."

Dropping Morgana lightly to the floor, Alexa took the vacant seat beside Liam and said, "What's it for?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Liam said. "Quirrell wants this essay handed in by Wednesday but I have no idea what to write about. I mean, how many other ways can I describe a banshee?"

Alexa looked hopelessly at the two lone paragraphs on the parchment while Liam sighed and dropped his head onto the parchment.

"Quirrell has got to be the worst teacher," Liam grumbled, his voice slightly muffled. "He's even worse than last years' teacher – which is saying a lot."

"Last years' teacher?" Alexa pressed.

Liam lifted is head, propping it up on his hand to look at her. "Oh yeah. Every year, there's a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. They say the job's cursed and so it's hard to find someone to fill the position, which needs filling every year."

"How long has this been going on?" Alexa asked.

Liam lifted his shoulders. "A while, I guess. I've never asked, though I'm sure Professor Binns could tell us. Not that he would, mind you. He's too wrapped up in his notes to pay any attention at all. That class could be interesting, but the way he speaks…" Liam groaned. "It's torture, sitting through those classes, especially when it's double History of Magic. Bores me to sleep, and it's worse when it's hotter out 'cause then you get extra comfy and drop right off and you'll never know about that one witch who cursed that one wizard, and, yeah…"

He trailed off and Alexa stifled a laugh.

"Speaking of being tired," she pointed out and Liam yawned.

"This essay isn't going to write itself, you know," he said with a grin.

"No," Alexa agreed, "but you've also got three days to write it."

"I like to have my homework done before my class."

Feeling as though she was being excused, Alexa got to her feet, her eyes searching the crowded common room for Morgana.

"Look, sorry," Liam said. "I'm just frustrated. I feel like I'm barely learning anything and Quirrell's stutter is grating on my nerves. It's difficult listening to him without wanting to curse him into oblivion."

"Didn't he get attacked by a vampire?" Alexa reminded him.

"So he says," Liam snorted.

"Isn't that why his turban smells funny?" Alexa pressed. "And it's why he's got a stutter. The poor man was scared half to death and you can't stand the way he talks. At least he can talk."

"Calm down, Lott," Liam snapped. "You don't need to get your knickers in a bunch."

Without another word, Alexa stomped away from Liam and slipped out of the common room.

She was thinking about going to the courtyard before dinner just to get some fresh air when she spotted Hannah Abbott walking ahead of her, the short, round-faced boy from Gryffindor with her.

After a moment's hesitation, Alexa caught up to them, giving them a breathless hello.

"Oh, goodness, Alexa," Hannah gasped. "You frightened me. I wasn't expecting anyone to be coming up behind us."

"Sorry about that," Alexa apologized meekly. "I wasn't thinking."

"So, how're the Slytherins fairing after today's match?" Hannah asked while the boy beside her twisted his hands nervously.

"Not great," Alexa confessed. "They still think Potter cheated."

"Harry didn't cheat!" the boy burst out before turning pink.

"Don't worry, Neville," Hannah soothed. "I doubt Alexa thinks Harry cheated."

"No, I don't," Alexa admitted. "Actually, I think what Flint did was rather rude. He really could have hurt Potter that way. What if Potter hadn't stopped in time? He would have crashed right into Flint and then Potter would be lying in the Hospital Wing with a broken neck or something."

Hannah merely smiled then looped her arm through Alexa's.

"Come on, we're going to meet some friends in the Great Hall before dinner," Hannah said. "Would you like to join us?"

Alexa bit her lower lip nervously, hesitant about accepting it.

"C'mon, we need to disprove that not all Slytherins are evil," Hannah told her. "And we know you're definitely not evil, not if you can admit when Slytherins are wrong."

"That might change the more I get used to being in Slytherin," Alexa warned Hannah, who simply smiled.

"Then I'll remind you of who you are," she said.

Alexa couldn't help but smile and follow Hannah and Neville to the Great Hall.

It would be nice, she thought as they walked into the Great Hall and made for the Hufflepuff table, if the rift between the Houses could be mended.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed it and, hopefully, I'll have another chapter up before long.**

 **Please read and review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Just a heads up that I have officially finished this fanfiction and, over the course of the next week or so, I'll be posting the final chapters. I know this is being posted just two days after my last chapter, but what can I say? I got extremely inspired.**

 **Disclaimer that I own nothing besides Alexa Lott...**

* * *

The holiday's snuck up on Alexa and she was more than a little surprised when Snape arrived one afternoon to find out who was staying over the holiday and who was going home.

Alexa immediately signed up to go home, overjoyed at finally getting to see her parents in what felt like ages.

To her surprise, the week before the holidays, Alexa received a letter from Jo, demanding that Alexa explain to her why she hadn't written in over a month.

Sitting by the fireplace, Alexa read over her friend's short and agitated letter, fretting over how best to respond when Draco Malfoy dropped into the vacant chair beside her and let out a loud sigh.

Shifting slightly away from him, Alexa kept her eyes fixed on her letter while Malfoy peered curiously at her.

"I've never noticed you before," he said after a moment. Alexa's grip on Jo's letter tightened. "Were your parents in this house?"

"No," Alexa answered shortly.

"Then what house were they in?" Malfoy wanted to know.

Alexa glanced at him over the top of the letter and found it disconcerting when she noticed that he was watching her closely, his eyes a dark grey color. His white-blond hair was slicked back, putting his pointed chin and high forehead into sharp relief.

"My father was a Gryffindor," Alexa told him, careful to keep her voice level, "and my mother was a Hufflepuff."

Malfoy snorted. "How did you end up here, then?"

Alexa raised her eyebrows at him. "Does it matter? I'm here, aren't I?"

He let out a noncommittal noise and slouched into the chair, letting his long legs stretch out before him towards the hearth where a black and white lay outstretched on a worn pillow.

"If you aren't from a Slytherin family," Malfoy said after a while, "then of course I wouldn't have heard of you. What do your parents do?"

The edges of the letter crinkled as Alexa's hands threatened to crush it.

Wracking her brain, Alexa struggled to come up with a sound lie when Pansy Parkinson sauntered over and hung over the top of Malfoy's chair, her chin length black hair swaying as she leaned forward.

"Draco, Daphne didn't believe me when I told her that you nearly got Potter and Weasley expelled in September," she said in a simpering voice that had Alexa struggling to keep her face devoid of emotion. "Remember, Draco? You told Potter you would duel him."

Malfoy waved her off as he sat up straighter. Pansy moved around to face him while Daphne hung back to the side, watching the two with eyes glittering darkly.

"Yes, I remember." Malfoy shrugged. "What about it?"

"How come Potter and Weasley are still here, then?" Daphne wanted to know, her arms folded over her chest.

"I suppose they got away, didn't they?" Malfoy said, annoyed. He got to his feet and stalked away and out of the common room, Pansy and his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle, close on his heels.

Alexa sagged in relief, her grip on Jo's letter relaxing as the door slid closed behind them.

It wasn't until she was folding up the letter that she realized Daphne was watching her closely, the same dark look in her eyes, following Alexa's every movement.

"What?" Alexa dared ask as she stuffed the letter inside her robes as she got to her feet.

"There's something about you, Lott, that I don't trust," Daphne told her, walking slowly towards Alexa. "Once I find out what it is, I promise I'll destroy you."

"Such loyalty," Alexa remarked dryly.

Daphne smirked. "I'm only loyal to those I know are of pure blood. You, Lott, are not of pure blood. Your parents are probably Muggles."

Fear shot through her, but Alexa laughed it off, her hands trembling. She balled them into fists at her side to hide them.

"If I was Muggleborn, then how could I have gotten into Slytherin?" she asked Daphne, whose eyes narrowed.

"It's been known to happen," Daphne admitted after a moment. "It's rare, but it has happened."

"Well, if you're done interrogating me, I need to go to the library to finish the Transfiguration homework."

Without waiting for Daphne's response, Alexa darted from the common room and bolted down the cold corridors.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and nearly ran right into a group of ginger haired boys, all of whom looked similar in appearance, aside from their shared hair color.

"Oi, watch it," one of the twins said as Alexa skidded to a halt inches from them.

Alexa recognized them as the twin Beaters from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They were Weasley's and, if she had to guess, she supposed that the other two were Weasley's as well.

"What are you doing?" the boy with curly red hair and glasses asked, his tone sharp. She spotted a Prefect badge gleaming brightly under the candlelight and stepped unconsciously away from them.

"Leave her be, Perce," the other twin said. "Can't you tell she's a scared ickle Slytherin?"

The Prefect named Perce sniffed in disdain and returned to their conversation.

"Anyways, Mum and Dad are going to see Charlie, so we're going to stay here for the holiday's," Perce the Prefect said, but when he saw that Alexa was still standing awkwardly nearby, he lifted his eyebrows questioningly at her. "Is there something you want?" he asked.

"Er, no." Alexa eyed them nervously and started to back away.

"I've seen you around," the shorter of the four suddenly said.

"How observant you are," Alexa snapped. "We're in the same year."

The twins snickered into their hands while the Prefect looked affronted. Meanwhile, the younger Weasley, which she recognized to be Ron Weasley, friend of both Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, looked unconcerned.

"I think Hermione's mentioned you," he said after a moment. "Though what she sees in being friends with the likes of you, I'll never understand."

"Not everything is defined by House," Alexa retorted. She drew herself up to her full, though not considerable, height, and pushed roughly by the still-laughing twins and off towards the library. Halfway there, however, she stopped in the middle of the dimly lit corridor, looked back in the direction she had just come from, and made her way back. But rather than go by the Weasley's again, Alexa found a hidden passageway concealed by a tapestry and ducked behind it.

Sinking down onto the cold stone stairs, Alexa drew her knees up to her chest and cried for the first time since arriving at Hogwarts.

No matter where she went, she was hated, if not for bearing the Slytherin colors, then for being a complete unknown in her own house. She suspected that more than Liam and Sue knew the truth of her heritage and were just waiting for the right moment to divulge it to everyone, making her a true outcast.

The tears ran hot and thick and her desire to be home with her parents was stronger than ever.

Dropping her head onto her knees, she cried herself out until, feeling drained, she lifted her head and rested it against the wall, staring up at the black expanse towards the ceiling.

It wasn't until she heard the sound of humming that she shot to her feet, wiping her eyes hurriedly.

The tapestry was pulled aside and Alexa found herself face-to-face with Professor Dumbledore.

* * *

 **Sorry it's a short chapter, but there we are. Enjoy! And, as always, please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**It's only because I actually finished this fiction that you're receiving it at regular intervals, just fyi.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Also, disclaimer, as per usual, that I am not Jo.**

* * *

"Tea is always the best solution, I find," Professor Dumbledore said as he poured Alexa a cup.

She found the headmaster's study to be overstuffed with various instruments that she had no knowledge of their purpose, the walls filled to bursting with books, and plush chairs facing the headmaster's desk.

Where they sat, however, was a little room off to the right with thick curtains and rugs, a dark wood table and chintz chairs.

Professor Dumbledore pushed the cup towards Alexa before pouring himself his own cup and fixing it up with a healthy dose of cream and more than enough sugar.

Alexa tentatively picked up the cream while Professor Dumbledore said, "I hope you're enjoying your first term at Hogwarts."

She noticed her hands were trembling slightly and put the teacup back down gently on the table.

"Yes," she said timidly, "I am."

Professor Dumbledore peered at her over his half-moon spectacles, his blue eyes twinkling as if he knew something she did not.

"Life can be difficult, at first, for a Muggleborn student," Professor Dumbledore advised her. "It can be especially difficult for a Muggleborn Slytherin."

Alexa gasped in surprise. "You know?"

He laughed. "Of course I know. I find it to be one of the perks of being headmaster. And every year, I hope that the discord between the houses can be eliminated, but as of yet, that has not happened." He gestured to her. "Perhaps you might change that."

"How could I change that?" she asked, her tea forgotten. "Only two people know that I'm not a Pureblood and I suspect I ought to keep it that way."

"Make friends outside of your house," Dumbledore advised. "You don't need to maintain friendships with those in your house alone. If people see a Slytherin conversing easily with the other students, it might encourage others to do the same."

"Or it might turn my house against me even more," Alexa muttered and Dumbledore nodded, his expression grim.

"That is true." He smiled gently at her. "But one must first face adversity before they can succeed."

Alexa's brow furrowed in confusion and she was about to ask him what he meant when there was a quick knock on the door and in walked Professor McGonagall.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'll have you know that there's a group of sixth year Slytherins who are tormenting a pair of Ravenclaw first years."

When she spotted Alexa sitting across the table from Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall looked inquiringly at Dumbledore, who got to his feet.

"Minerva, Miss Lott has had a difficult time adjusting to life here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained as he moved to his desk, leaving Alexa sitting alone in the small room.

"Has she indeed?" McGonagall looked back towards Alexa, a look of suspicion on her face. "And what might be troubling her."

"Lineage, Minerva, and the lack of compassion children feel towards their fellow classmates."

"Indeed."

Alexa dropped her eyes to her tea, now cold, and twisted her hands anxiously in her lap.

What would happen to her? Would she be sent home, told to go to a different school? Would McGonagall be even more cruel to her now?

"Give them detention as you see fit, Minerva," Dumbledore said after a moment of rifling through papers in a drawer. "And tell Filch to keep a better eye out on the students. As they well know, magic in the hallways is forbidden."

"They were out on the lawn," McGonagall told him.

"No matter." Dumbledore pulled out a thick book and shut the drawer before shuffling out from behind the desk. "Do what you must. I'll see you at dinner."

McGonagall looked back at Alexa, who kept her eyes downcast, before turning on her heel and sweeping from the room.

"Now, this is what I wanted to show you."

Dumbledore had returned, the thick, old book in his hands. He cleared away the tea things before setting the book down and opening it.

"What is it?" Alexa asked, her curiosity piqued, and she leaned forward.

Dumbledore flipped through several hundred pages before he came to a stop towards the back of the book.

"It's a book of all magical bloodlines in Britain and Ireland," he explained. "Now I must ask you: what is your mother's maiden name?"

Alexa was taken aback, but she answered all the same. "Glass," she answered and Dumbledore frowned.

"Has anyone in your family ever mentioned magic?" he inquired.

"My grandmother," Alexa said. "She often spoke of her grandmother's grandmother, who was a witch. But someone was born, I suppose my great-great-grandfather, who was born without magic. He was left to his own devices and so anyone knowing at all about magic died. Someone must've passed down the stories, though, since my grandmother knew them."

"And she told them to you," Dumbledore said, the twinkle back in his eyes. "Did she happen to mention any names?"

Alexa wracked her brain then hesitantly said, "Warfrin and Prudy. But I can't remember their last names."

"No matter," Dumbledore said, flipping through the book's pages. "Those names alone will help us."

"But won't surnames help more?"

"Yes," he admitted, "but they're not necessary."

"Are all Wizarding names so…odd?" Alexa asked cautiously, making Dumbledore smile.

"I suppose they are, though I hasten to add that not _all_ names are odd."

"Yeah, Sue's isn't bad," Alexa agreed. "And neither is Liam or Hannah."

"Or Dean or Ernie or Roger," Dumbledore added lightly as he continued to flip through the pages. Finally, he said, "Ah! Here we are: Warfrin and Prudy Tugwood."

Alexa lifted her eyebrows at the curious surname, which only made Professor Dumbledore chuckle.

"Another odd name, yes indeed," he chuckled. "Warfrin and Prudy Tugwood had two daughters and three sons. One daughter, Sacharissa, became one of the first to use beauty potions after developing quite a few herself. The other daughter, Norabella, has no accomplishments next to her name. In fact, after her birth, there's nothing."

"When was she born?" Alexa asked eagerly.

"April third, eighteen seventy-seven," Dumbledore answered. "There's no death date, no additional information at all. The three sons, however, have a great deal of information next to their names, just like Sacharissa. If, indeed, Norabella is your ancestor, then we know that you are descended from a Wizarding family."

"It hardly does me any good," Alexa said, her excitement ebbing away. "To everyone here, I'm nothing but a lowly Muggleborn girl who got mistakenly placed in Slytherin, the house of villains."

Closing the book, Dumbledore said, "Not every Gryffindor is brave, not every Ravenclaw is intelligent, and not every Hufflepuff is loyal, just as not every Slytherin is evil."

"No, just everyone in my house is children of Death Eaters, people who want nothing more than to wipe out every unclean blemish that sullies wizards," Alexa said sullenly.

"Just remember that not everyone is as they seem," Dumbledore told her, his voice gentle. His long hands were folded over the book as he looked at her. "I know for a fact that there are thirteen other Muggleborns in your house who pretend to be half-blood or more, just as you do. They lie to their friends and enemies day and night. They, like you, fear what will happen to them should they be found out. Having ambition is not a villainous trait, my dear."

"But being selfish is," Alexa cut in. "I heard the Sorting Hat. 'Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends'. I could betray Sue if it made me come on top. I could let Liam fall on his sword if it saved my neck. How is selfishness not a trait of villain, sir?"

"Self-preservation is not a bad thing," Dumbledore said wisely.

Alexa sat back in the chair, eyes on the book under Professor Dumbledore's hands.

Finally, he got to his feet, motioning for Alexa to do the same.

"And now, it is time for dinner," he said with a smile as he escorted her to the door. "Go and enjoy your last week before the holidays."

The door shut softly behind her and Alexa stared at it for a moment before descending down the stairs and out into the corridor beyond.

But rather than go to the Great Hall for dinner, Alexa made straight for the library and spent the next several hours looking up everything she could about the Tugwoods, only to be severely disappointed when she found nothing at all mentioning Norabella Tugwood. It was as if she had never existed.

* * *

"Write to me while you're home," Sue ordered as the Hogwarts Express lurched to a halt. "I'll want to know what you've gotten for Christmas."

Alexa assured her friend that she would and, together, the two hopped off the train and onto the crowded platform.

After making sure that Morgana was secured on top of her trunk, Alexa ran through the barrier back to the Muggle world where she found her parents waiting for her.

Mrs. Lott embraced Alexa tightly while Mr. Lott took the trolley away from Alexa.

"I've missed you so very much," Mrs. Lott whispered as she kissed Alexa on the forehead. "And you've grown several inches since you left." She wrapped her arm around Alexa's shoulder and they started to make their way through the crowds and off the platforms. "Tell us how school is."

The whole ride from King's Cross back to Helston was filled with Alexa's descriptions of every little thing that had happened. She had even briefly debated with herself whether she ought to tell them about the troll at Halloween but did so anyways.

"A troll?" her mother asked, frightened. "Goodness, is this normal?"

"I don't think so," Alexa admitted as they turned down Holly Road. She spotted her house as they rounded the corner and felt immediately relaxed. "Most people think Peeves let it in."

"And Peeves is…?" Mr. Lott pressed.

"The poltergeist."

"A poltergeist?" Mrs. Lott looked extremely worried. "Are we sure this school is safe?"

"Of course it is," Alexa responded quickly. "Peeves is more of a nuisance than anything. He's not quite harmless, but he listens to the Bloody Baron. He's the ghost for Slytherin house," she added at her parents confused expressions. "No one knows how he died, but we all know not to ask."

"It's a touchy topic, eh?" her father asked with a grin as they pulled into the drive.

"I believe it is."

* * *

 **This isn't my favorite - or best - chapter, but sometimes, I like to remind myself that Dumbledore wasn't always calculating, that he was often kind. I would like to think that he stumbled upon many a student like Alexa and offered kind words and, maybe, a cup of tea. I'm probably wrong, and that's okay, but it's my fic and I'll write what I like. I hope you all enjoyed it all the same and please review! I love every single one! Until next time!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A few days ago, I got rather good advice on how to improve my writing. However, I am stubborn and will not edit the remaining chapters of this fic and am, instead, using that advice on the second part of this fic. So the advice has been taken and, hopefully, applied, just not to this fic. I don't feel like going back over the ending and, yeah... I'm far too lazy for that. But I thank you for it.**

 **Disclaimer that I only own Alexa, her parents, her cat, and Liam.**

* * *

To her dismay, Christmas far passed too quickly.

Before she knew it, she was packing up her trunk all too soon and sleeping in her bed one last time before returning home at the end of June for summer holidays.

She had written to Sue, as her friend had requested, and had even called Jo, who was more than a little stung at Alexa's silence over the last few weeks.

"I didn't think we would be those friends who would lose touch with each other just because we've gone off to different schools," Jo had said to Alexa when she had called. "I still write to you but I get next to nothing from you."

"That's because there's nothing to tell," Alexa lied while Mrs. Lott eyed her curiously. "Honestly, school is boring. The only good thing is that we've got a good football team. All girls' and everything."

"Well how lovely," Jo said dryly. "I'm _so_ glad your football team is good."

"Jo, really – "

"Goodbye, Alexa," Jo said abruptly and then the line went dead.

"Well," Alexa huffed as she slammed the receiver down. "If I could just tell her about Hogwarts, I would, but I can't, so I won't. And she's so _mad_ at me. _It's so unfair!_ "

Mrs. Lott came over and embraced Alexa tightly. "Perhaps you can tell her discreetly."

"But how?" Alexa wanted to know, feeling tears threatening. She blinked them back and looked up her mother, dismayed. "Telling anyone who isn't family is forbidden. Something about a statute of secrecy of some kind, and I if break it, I could get in loads of trouble, maybe even expelled."

"By accident," Mrs. Lott suggested with a small grin. "Perhaps you invite her over once you've come home for the summer holidays and just _happen_ to leave out your school books. Keep your wand hidden, of course, but if it's an accident, surely you can't be blamed for that."

Alexa looked at her mother in wonder.

"That is brilliant, Mum!" she exclaimed and her mother beamed.

On the car ride back to King's Cross, Alexa watched the towns pass by, feeling her stomach lurching with nerves when she thought about returning to Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore's words that not everyone is as they seem calmed her somewhat, though she still knew that she could only trust Sue and Liam with her secret. No Muggleborn Slytherin wanted anyone to discover their secret, no matter who it was.

After finding a seat towards the end of the train, Alexa waited for Sue by formulating a profuse apology to Jo when the compartment door slid open and, to her dismay, Daphne Greengrass strode in.

Closing the compartment door and locking it, Daphne then pulled the shades closed and blocked the door.

"What do you want?" Alexa asked brusquely. She was in no mood to be tormented and did not care if Daphne knew it.

"I did a bit of research over the holidays," Daphne began, swaying a little where she stood, a malicious smile marring her normally beautiful face.

"You did work that wasn't for school? What a miracle."

Daphne's golden eyes narrowed.

"There is no family with the name of Lott in the Wizard registry," Daphne spat, crossing her arms over her chest. "I knew you weren't pureblood. Anyone could guess that. But you aren't even half-blood. You're _Muggleborn_. You're a dirty Mudblood, fouling up the Slytherin reputation with your tainted blood."

Blood boiling, Alexa sat up straighter while, still locked away in her cage, Morgana hissed at Daphne.

 _"_ _What did you just call me?"_

Daphne sneered. "A _Mudblood_. It's what you are, after all."

Alexa had just shot to her feet when Daphne unlocked the compartment door and slid it open.

"You're mine now," Daphne said, her wicked grin back in place as she stepped out into the corridor beyond. "Enjoy your trip back to school."

She slid the door shut once more and Alexa felt her legs go out from underneath her.

She was done for, there was no denying it. If Daphne knew the truth, then it was only a matter of time before she told Pansy and Millicent and then, soon, the entire house. She would be hated, spat on and loathed. She would be shunned, a social outcast, and not even Sue or Liam could help her.

How could she endure six more years of being treated like a pariah?

The sun had begun to sink below the horizon before Sue found her, sitting curled up against the seat, her head resting against the cold glass.

"Finally, I've found you," Sue said with a sigh relief as she slid the compartment door closed. "I've searched this entire train and I even got that Hufflepuff girl you sometimes study with to help. I suppose I ought to go find her and tell her I've found her, but I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually."

Sue plopped down on the seat opposite Alexa and ripped open a Cauldron Cake, taking a large bite before looking at Alexa, seeming to only just then notice the wall of silence she was met with.

"What's happened? Did you have a bad holiday?" Sue asked, cramming the rest of the cake in her mouth. "Did your mum or dad not want you to come back? Do they think magic is too dangerous? I have a cousin who's got a Muggle mum. Her mum thinks magic is the work of the devil and you can imagine the argument that happened once my cousin got her Hogwarts letter. We thought for sure the house was going to explode from my aunt's anger, but it didn't. My aunt and uncle are divorced now and my aunt's pretty much abandoned Jenny."

When Alexa didn't even stir, Sue cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowed.

"What's the matter, Alexa?" Sue inquired. "It's not like you to be this quiet."

Still, Alexa remained silent, her eyes unfocused as the snowy countryside faded as the sunlight slipped away. She was so engrossed in her own misery that she barely comprehended Sue's words.

Sue watched her closely for a moment before getting to her feet and left the compartment without a word.

It was best to distance herself from her friends as much as possible, Alexa thought morosely as the compartment door slid shut once more. It would minimize the damage she would inflict upon others when Daphne told everyone that she was a…a _Mudblood_.

Darkness had long since fallen, the lights all along the train flickering on, when Sue finally returned, Hermione Granger in tow.

Alexa turned her head, eyeing Hermione curiously.

"At least that's gotten some response," Sue said with annoyance. She turned to Hermione, who looked uncertain. "She won't speak. Something's happened and she won't tell me what."

"Why do you think I can help you?" Hermione asked, nonplussed. "I barely know her."

"But I've seen her with you," Sue insisted. "I know you and her are friends."

"'Acquaintance' is the word I might use," Hermione amended as she looked closely at Alexa. "I've only spoken to her a handful of times. Hasn't she got any other friends that might be able to help you?"

"The only other one is in a compartment at the front of the train with a bunch of other Slytherin bullies who would use this moment to harm her," Sue snapped.

Hermione nodded. "Is it because she's Muggleborn?"

"Merlin's beard, how many people have you told, Alexa?" Sue demanded angrily, but Alexa curled up tighter and kept her eyes fixed on silhouette of the mountains outside though she could still see the reflections of Sue and Hermione in the glass.

"I already knew," Hermione reassured Sue. "She didn't need to tell me. Neville Longbottom knows too, but he won't tell a soul. And besides, blood purity hardly matters to me."

"Would that be because you're a Muggleborn yourself?" Sue snickered.

Hermione leveled a look at Sue, who sobered instantly.

"Be that as it may, something had to have gotten under her skin," Hermione said after a moment. "Has she eaten anything today?"

Sue shrugged. "I only just got here before sundown. The trolley should have already passed."

"Were there any sweets?"

"No." Sue shook her head. "The only thing in here, besides Alexa, is her cat, which is still in her cage."

"We might need Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said after a while. "If only I had an owl that I could send a letter ahead of the train. Ooh! I could always ask the conductor if he could get word to Professor McGonagall."

"Professor Snape might be more apt, don't you think?" Sue asked, her eyebrows raised in question. There was a slight curl to her lips as she spoke and Alexa could tell already that being in Slytherin was already affecting her.

"Oh, er, yes, I suppose," Hermione said, turning slightly pink. "I'll just, er, go now."

Hermione slipped out of the compartment, leaving Alexa alone with Sue once more.

Sue sat on the edge of the seat across from Alexa and said, "You know you can tell me anything. What's happened, Alexa? This isn't like you?"

"Dirty blood," Alexa said hoarsely just as the compartment door slid open once more, but rather than Hermione, it was Liam.

"I heard you two were all the way down here," Liam said as he pulled out a Chocolate Frog from his pocket. He pulled the compartment door shut, eyed the drawn shades curiously, then dropped down beside Alexa. "I made an excuse to get away from the mates, but I'm here now. So tell me, how was your holiday, Sue? Was it eventful? How about you, Alexa? Did Mummy and Daddy not want you to come back?"

"Liam, shut up for just one minute," Sue snapped, her hand raised, palm out, to silence him. She turned her attention back to Alexa. "What did you say before he walked in?"

But Alexa kept her mouth shut.

"What's going on?" Liam wanted to know as he unwrapped another Chocolate Frog.

"She hasn't spoken to me this whole time," Sue informed him, "that is, until just before you barged in."'

Liam looked offended, but Sue, ignoring him, said, "Something's bothering her but I don't know what!"

" _Is_ it because your parents didn't want you to come back?" Liam asked seriously, looking at her reflection in the dark glass. "I was only joking."

"What did you say, Alexa?" Sue demanded. "What was it?"

But Hermione was back and informed them that they would be at Hogwarts within the hour.

"There's no way to get a letter to McGonagall or Snape," Hermione said regretfully. "The conductor hasn't got an owl with him and I don't know anyone on the train with an owl."

"Who is this?" Liam asked, jerking his thumb in Hermione's direction.

"Never you mind," Sue said tersely. To Hermione, she said, "You can go back to Neville."

Hermione bit her lower lip nervously but then nodded before disappearing once more.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Liam moaned. "I don't do well with drama."

"Then get out," Sue snapped.

Liam raised his hands in surrender, getting to his feet. "Fine. Fine. I'll go."

"Daphne knows," Alexa whispered.

"What?" Liam asked, leaning forward at the same time Sue gasped loudly.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, tell me she doesn't!" she cried.

"She cornered me in here," Alexa told them, her voice barely audible. "She told me that I was a Mudblood and that I was hers."

"Greengrass has resorted to blackmailing now?" Liam laughed harshly. "How perfect that is."

"This is no laughing matter," Sue said angrily. "Most of the kids in our house are kids of Death Eaters, Liam. Surely I don't need to remind you of that. You know how they feel towards – wait, she called you a Mudblood?"

Sue looked stricken and even Liam looked agitated.

"It's what I am," Alexa said with a half-hearted shrug. "I've got dirty blood and, soon, the whole house will know. I'm sure they'll chase me out and I'll be left to go study in France or something."

"We can find something on Daphne, hold it over her head," Sue suggested.

"I'm good friends with a Ravenclaw who can hex a person to have acne that makes a word on your face. It's a tricky spell, or so I'm told, but it could be affective."

"Just leave it alone," Alexa said as the train began to slow down. "She's won, so let's just let her have her victory."

"No," Sue protested loudly. Morgana meowed in annoyance. "No, we can't let her win. Merlin's beard, we none of us got sorted into Slytherin for nothing! We're cunning, aren't we? Won't we do whatever it takes to save ourselves?"

"You're safe," Alexa told them as the sound of people filing the corridor outside reached her ears. "Just leave me be and Daphne will leave you all alone."

"Like hell," Liam growled. "I hate that girl and her entire family. I'll drag her down before she throws you to the snakes."

Alexa's mouth twitched as she felt a rush of gratitude towards her friends.

Loyalty might be the best defense she had, Alexa thought as the train slowed to a stop. Loyalty might be _all_ she had.

* * *

 **This is, once again, not my favorite chapter and I nearly re-wrote it because I wasn't sure if I liked it. But I do like that someone has figured it out, someone who could use it against Alexa when the time was right, so this chapter stayed as-is. I hope you liked all the same and, even if you didn't, please don't give up on me. Please review because I do genuinely love them and there have a few choice ones that have made me tear up. So thank you deeply. You're lovely beings and you deserve the best! Until the next chapter, then...**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the lack of updates. The only excuse I have is that I just haven't been on my computer for the past week or so. Please enjoy this next chapter.**

 **Usual disclaimer that I only claim ownership of Alexa, her family, and Liam.**

* * *

Alexa spent the next month worrying about when Daphne would reveal the truth about her heritage. Every time they were in the dormitory, Daphne would give Alexa know smirk then go back to ignoring her and, more than once, Alexa overheard Daphne and Pansy discussing her, knowing full well that Alexa was within earshot.

But as January slowly turned into February, Alexa began to suspect that Daphne would not use her knowledge until it best suited her. After all, Alexa knew that Daphne was not one to give up her information on someone unless it would also be beneficial to her.

Late one evening in mid-March, while a late snow storm billowed about the castle, Alexa sat with Sue, going over their Charms homework, when Daphne approached.

"What do you want?" Sue snarled when Daphne leaned her hip against the table.

"Tut, tut." Daphne smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder. "You ought to treat me with a bit of respect."

"I've no respect for someone who blackmails another," Sue retorted, snapping her book shut and glaring up at Daphne, who looked calm as ever.

Alexa closed her book as well and made to put it back into her bag when Daphne said, "Do you know her secret, Sue? Or has she kept you in the dark?"

"I'm not giving in to your bait," Sue warned her. "Leave us alone and go pester someone else."

Rather than leave, Daphne lowered herself into an empty chair and leaned against the table.

"One day, Lott, what I've got on you will be of use to me," Daphne said softly, careful not to let her voice carry. "I won't use it today or even this year. But the time will come when you will wish I'd never found out.

"And what do you think will happen to you when I've told everyone?" Daphne raised her eyebrows, clearly enjoying herself. "Most of the kids in our house hate people like you. I can't wait to see them destroy you."

"Why?" Alexa demanded. "Why must you do this?"

Daphne shrugged her slim shoulders. "For now, you may rest easy in knowing that your secret will remain just that. But when the time comes, when it comes time for all the people like you to be wiped out, I'll make sure you're the first to go."

Alexa shot up out of her seat and made to lunge for Daphne, but Sue stopped her.

"Let her go," Sue advised as Daphne slowly got to her own feet, laughing. "She's not worth it – trust me."

Daphne snorted.

"Remember, Lott." She leaned back in, her green eyes glittering maliciously. "I own you."

Alexa watched Daphne saunter back to where Pansy sat with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Even the tall dark-skinned boy was sitting with them.

They all looked up as Daphne approached and Alexa heard Pansy question Daphne.

"Let's go up," Sue said after a moment. She began stuffing her books, quill and ink into her bag. "I don't want to be around them anymore than I have to."

Sitting in the middle of her bed with Morgana in her lap, Alexa watched silently as Sue finished up her homework.

"I'm not writing that essay for you," Sue told Alexa as she rolled up her completed essay. "Flitwick would know in any case and you've got to learn."

"I'd rather brew a potion any day rather than work on charms," Alexa groaned and Sue shrugged.

It was long after Sue had gone to bed that Alexa finally started drifting off to sleep only to be awoken by the entrance of the three other girls.

"There's something weird about those two," Alexa heard Pansy remark. They weren't bothering to keep their voices down, she noted, not that they ever did. "I get that they're parents were perfect students, but even after being in this house for as long as we have been, they normally assimilate. Those two just refuse to accept that they're one of us."

"You don't want those two to accept being Slytherins," Daphne said. "Li should be a Ravenclaw, but God knows why she's here. As for Lott, well…let's just say that I don't think she's telling the full truth."

"What do you mean?" Millicent asked. Alexa heard the sound of a bed creaking loudly followed by the bed hangings being drawn.

"Lott's hiding something," Daphne said and Alexa knew that Daphne was taunting her. "I intend to find out what it is."

"Oh, who cares what she's hiding?" Pansy said dismissively. "It's not as if the Dark Lord's going to come back. He's dead, Daphne, remember? Even if Lott is what I think you're suggesting, there's nothing we can do about it. He won't be here to wipe out her and her family."

"No," Daphne agreed, "but we can still get her out of Hogwarts."

"What are you suggesting?" Pansy asked, sounding suddenly interested.

There was a brief silence then Daphne said, "We can't do anything until I can prove my suspicions. For all we know, that could take years. Isn't there some plot to try and find the Dark Lord anyways?"

"He's gone," Pansy repeated. "Potter destroyed him. My dad was lucky to get out. He and Malfoy both pretended to be Imperioused and it worked. Neither of them got sent to Azkaban with the rest."

"But just say that he did come back–" Daphne began, but Pansy cut her off.

"But he won't. At least not any time soon." Pansy sighed heavily. "I'm going to bed. I know McGonagall's going to be harsh tomorrow since we won that match against Ravenclaw. It puts us up against Gryffindor for the final match. She's going to be hateful until then."

"That's no different than any other day," Millicent muttered.

There was the sound of murmuring assent from the other two girls and then the room fell silent.

Alexa stared up at the dark canopy above her, fear running through her. Beside her, Morgana slept soundly, her familiar weight pressing against Alexa's side, almost comforting her. But knowing that Daphne hated her enough to try and get her run out of Hogwarts made Alexa want to pack up right that moment and leave.

But could she stand the idea of letting Daphne win?

No, she thought resolutely, her best course of action would be to hold her head high and continue on with her classes as if Daphne were nothing more than a bothersome fly. Granted, she was a fly that intending to get rid of her no matter what, but she could still ignore her.

She would have to prove to Daphne that her threats did not concern her at all.

* * *

The following Thursday, Alexa was pushed roughly aside during breakfast when Pansy shoved her away.

"Really?" she grumbled, pulling her plate of eggs and bacon with her.

Pansy shot her a dark look before she turned to Malfoy, who was sitting beside her and asked, "Tell us what you saw, Draco?"

"That great oaf Hagrid's got something hidden in his little hut," Malfoy announced happily. "I intend to get him sacked. And best of all is that Potter and the other two know. It's bound to get them expelled!"

"Isn't Weasley in the Hospital Wing right now?" Crabbe said curiously.

Malfoy cackled. "I've just remembered that I've forgotten something. I'll be right back."

Alexa watched Malfoy slip out of the hall but the fact that her Transfiguration homework was due later that day had her putting him out of her mind.

It wasn't until the following week that Alexa learned of what Malfoy had discovered in Hagrid's hut.

Rumors of a dragon had spread throughout the school, along with rumors of how of Gryffindor house had lost one and fifty points in a single night. Because of Malfoy, Slytherin had lost only fifty. But because of the great loss of points from Gryffindor, it put Slytherin in first place for the House Championship at the end of term.

Everywhere she went, whenever Potter was near, Slytherins thanked him for knocking Gryffindor down into last place. No one seemed bothered at all that Malfoy had lost them points and she doubted anyone truly cared.

There was something about Malfoy, she thought late that evening, that had everyone simultaneously hating him yet fearing him.

It was his family, Alexa supposed, that made him such a formidable person. But who he was made him dislikable.

He was arrogant and hateful, reveling in the misfortune of others. A true Slytherin trait, she reminded herself as Malfoy readied himself for his detention he had received for getting caught out late in the corridors the month before. He looked only mildly concerned as he pulled on his cloak, but when Pansy wished him luck, his face betrayed nothing.

Alexa turned her attention back to studying, as exams were the next week, and only just barely caught Malfoy saying, "Wait until my father hears about my detention."

She rolled her eyes as the common door slid open and Malfoy stepped out into the dim corridor beyond.

Arrogant prick, she thought viciously as the door slid shut once more. Too bad it's only detention and not something more dangerous.

* * *

 **Hopefully I will be able to post the last chapters before the month is out. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter and please review. I do truly love them.**


	17. Chapter 17

**So this is the real chapter seventeen. I truly am sorry that this is the second time this has happened. In my defense, I'm kind of scatterbrained at the moment (this isn't a normal thing, I swear), and that's why I accidentally posted the same chapter twice. So now that you have it, enjoy!**

* * *

The large classroom where the written exams were held was stifling hot. Alexa had pulled back her hair and rolled up her sleeves before starting on her exams, but even still, sweat began to roll down the sides of her face. The quills, they had found out, had been given an Anti-Cheating spell, which Alexa found appropriate, but everyone else seemed to hate.

"They clearly don't trust us," she overheard a Ravenclaw girl say angrily. "As if we would cheat!"

" _We_ wouldn't," her friend agreed. Her eyes fell on Alexa and Sue, who were sitting nearby. "But _they_ would."

Alexa and Sue rolled their eyes at each other.

"Stupid Ravenclaw know-it-alls," Sue muttered as she finished her letter to her mother. "I'm starting to thank the Sorting Hat for putting me in Slytherin. I don't think I could stand to be surrounded by people like that."

Alexa secretly agreed. She was beginning to accept her place in Slytherin, accepting that she _was_ a Slytherin and nothing would change that.

She remembered Professor Dumbledore's words and bent over her Potions notes, ignoring the Ravenclaws completely.

Alexa was relieved when exams were finally over. After having brewed a decent batch of Forgetfullness potion, transfigured a mouse into a snuffbox which, thankfully, did _not_ have whiskers, and nearly managed to make her pineapple tap dance, she started to feel the stresses of the exams lifting off her as, one by one, they were completed.

Finally, after the History of Magic exam, Alexa and Sue raced out of the castle doors, across the lawn, and straight for the lake where dozens of other students were already assembled, celebrating the end of exams.

Alexa discarded her robe, rolled up her sleeves, and pulled off her shoes and socks while Sue simply sprawled out across the cool grass.

The sun beamed warmly down, a cool breeze ruffling the leaves of a nearby tree.

A little ways down, Alexa spotted the Quidditch commentator Jordan and the Gryffindor Beaters tickling the Giant Squid's tentacles and nearly smiled at the sight.

She glanced to the left and saw Potter, Weasley, and Hermione strolling towards the lake as well.

Weasley plopped down while Hermione settled down primly in the grass. Harry simply dropped and stretched out his legs, his untidy black hair ruffled in the breeze. They were talking in low voices and only once did Hermione glance over. She smiled, however, at Alexa before turning her attention back to Potter and Weasley.

"It's almost time for summer," Sue sighed dreamily, her eyes closed.

Her glossy black hair fanned over the grass and her shoulders, the ends lifting slightly as another breeze rolled over them.

"I can't wait to go home and do nothing," Sue went on while Alexa lifted her face towards the sun, letting the spring sun warm her skin. "Mum and Dad will ask me all they can the first week or so, but then they'll leave me be. I think we're going to see my dad's parents in Germany in July. I can't wait. I haven't seen them in so long."

She propped herself up on her elbows, her dark eyes peering closely at Alexa.

"Have your parents got any plans for this summer?"

Alexa shrugged and drew her knees up close, wrapping her arms around them. "I dunno," she said honestly. "If they do, they haven't told me."

"D'you think Jo will still talk to you?"

"She was pretty upset over Christmas," Alexa admitted. "I can't tell her, of course. Mum thinks I should accidentally show her something."

Sue leaned forward, intrigued. "Like what?"

Alexa shrugged again. "Let her see my textbooks or something? That way I'm not technically telling her. I can't help it if a Muggle sees something and I have to explain it. She would know I'm lying in any case."

Sue nodded in approval. "I think it might work. Mind you, no magic. The Ministry will be on your house before you know it."

"The Ministry?" Alexa echoed, feeling the old remnants of frustration at her lack of knowledge about the world with which she had found herself in.

"Yeah, the Ministry of Magic," Sue explained. "It's run by witches and wizards, obviously, and some come from all over the world. My dad works in the Department of Magical Education. He's not a school governor, but he's still pretty high up in the office."

"And your mum?" Alexa prompted interestedly. "What does she do?"

"Mum is healer at St. Mungo's," Sue replied, looking proud. "She works on the fourth floor in the spell damage department."

"So what does she do?" Alexa wanted to know.

"Lots of stuff," Sue answered lamely. "I don't know. She hardly ever talks about it. I'm sure there're loads of mishaps in there, but I'm pretty sure there are quite a few that would require the Ministry to look into it. She never tells me anything," she added, looking sour.

"Better than my parents," Alexa said.

Sue looked curious. "What do they do?"

"Well, my mum works as a veterinary surgeon," Alexa told her. "And my dad travels nearly two hours to work every day for a newspaper. He's a journalist and can be gone for several days if the paper wants him to do a job out of town."

"A veterinary surgeon," Sue repeated. "What's that?"

Alexa nearly laughed aloud at her friend's ignorance at something so simple. But then she reminded herself that Sue had been patient all year at explaining things about the Wizarding world and explained as best as she could what a veterinary surgeon did.

"So she's like my mum," Sue said excitedly, "only she deals with animals?"

"Right."

Alexa's attention was drawn back to Potter, Weasley, and Hermione, all of whom had suddenly shot up and raced off and out of sight.

"That lot is so strange," Alexa observed and Sue grunted in response.

What was it, Alexa wondered as she turned her attention back to the Giant Squid, who was now floating lazily across the surface of the lake, that made her so curious about those three?

* * *

 **I am truly sorry about that, and thank you to _TitaniumHart_ for pointing it out to me. You're a doll and I am sincerely grateful to you.**


	18. Chapter 18

**So I've decided to go ahead and post the final chapter. It is rather long, admittedly, but ah well. At least it's done and over with.**

 **My usual disclaimer of ownership that I don't claim possession over anyone besides Alexa, her family, and Liam.**

* * *

"Did you hear what Potter and his friends did?"

Alexa was shaken violently awake by Sue, who looked like a madwoman, her dark eyes wide and excited, a huge grin splitting her face.

"What are you talking about?" Alexa yawned, pulling her covers up to her chin. Morgana had leapt from the bed as soon as Sue had begun shaking Alexa awake and was sitting on the floor, flicking her long tail in clear agitation. Alexa eyed Sue darkly. "I was sleeping, you know."

"Potter and his friends stopped Professor Quirrell from taking this stone that was being guarded. That's why we weren't allowed on the third floor," Sue said quickly, jumping up onto Alexa's bed, pinning her down. "This great big three headed dog guarded the entrance and those three somehow made it in. They challenged all sorts of things the teachers put up to defend the stone. I can't believe Quirrell was trying to steal it!"

"Sue, what are you talking about?" Alexa demanded, struggling to sit up. She nudged Sue, who obliged silently, and Alexa managed to pull herself into a sitting position while Sue pet Morgana absentmindedly after the cat had hopped back up onto the bed.

"Potter, Weasley, and Granger stopped Quirrell from taking the Philosopher's Stone!" Sue said excitedly. "Apparently he was trying to steal it so that he could bring You-Know-Who back from the dead! It would give him a body and supposedly You-Know-Who was possessing Quirrell, that's why he always wore a turban. It wasn't because he saved some bloke – _it was because he was hiding You-Know-Who in it!_ "

Alexa eyed Sue as if she was mad. "You've lost your marbles, you have. What on earth on you on about?"

Sue leaned forward, her face inches from Alexa's. "Look, if you don't believe me, Potter's in the Hospital Wing _right now_. Professor Dumbledore saved him, but it was nearly too late. Weasley and Granger are back in the Gryffindor common room now, I suspect."

Alexa shook her head and got out of bed.

"If you don't believe me, go see for yourself," Sue said, gesturing towards the dormitory door. "Even Pansy and Daphne know all about it. That's who I heard it from. Apparently they had overheard one of the Prefects talking about it this morning. They were excited because Potter will be out cold in the Hospital Wing while Gryffindor plays Ravenclaw tomorrow."

"Right, the last match," Alexa said as she got dressed.

Sue watched her silently then got to her own feet, making for the dormitory door.

"C'mon," she said, opening the heavy door widely. "Let's go get breakfast and hear what everyone else has to say about it."

The match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw lasted barely thirty minutes. No matter how hard the Gryffindor Chasers tried, they simply could not score enough points to win the match without Potter.

Gryffindor lost, seventy to hundred and ninety, and Ravenclaw took the Quidditch Cup from Professor Dumbledore.

As the school was filing into the Great Hall for dinner that evening, Alexa hung back and waited until she knew the coast was clear before heading towards the Hospital Wing.

The Wing was empty aside from Potter, who was lying in a bed in the middle of the room.

Alexa looked around for the nurse and, when she certain she wouldn't be caught, she hurried into the room and left a quick note beside his bed next to his round glasses.

 _Dear Harry,_ she had written not ten minutes before, _I hope you get well soon. To be honest, I'd wanted Gryffindor to win against Ravenclaw, but since you're here, that didn't happen. Good job on stopping Quirrell from bringing back You-Know-Who. If anyone should have stopped him, it was right to be you. Sincerely, a friend._

She didn't sign her name, didn't want him to know that a Slytherin sympathized with him and his plight. But she wasn't made of stone and she was grateful that he had foiled a plan to bring back the darkest wizard in recent times, if only to be sure that she would not be harmed should he return.

Alexa hurried back down the corridor towards the Great Hall and joined Sue at the end of the table near the professors and ate her dinner in silence.

The following evening found the whole school assembled for the End of the Year feast.

To hers and the rest of Slytherin houses delight, the hall was decorated in thick green hangings and, behind the High Table, hung a great green banner with a giant serpent emblazoned across it.

So Slytherin had won the House Cup for the seventh year in a row, she thought gleefully as she sat between Sue and Liam.

"Look at how those Gryffindors look!" a burly seventh year crowed, cackling madly as he pointed across the Hall towards the Gryffindor table. "Even precious Potter couldn't help them win!"

"It was because of Potter that we've won," his friend pointed out and that section of the table burst into loud cheers.

"I'll admit, I'm pretty happy we've won," Sue admitted as she glanced impatiently towards the High Table.

"Of course you're happy," Liam said with a snort. "What Slytherin isn't? We worked hard to get the House Cup. It's Potter's fault that they lost it. They shouldn't have been running around the school after hours."

As the feast drew to a close, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and the Hall fell silent.

"Another year gone," Dumbledore announced, smiling happily at the students. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were…you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts….

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; in second, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty-six; and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

All around her, the Slytherins were cheering loudly, banging their fists on the table and whooping, hugging each other as tightly as possible.

"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin," Dumbledore agreed and the room fell silent once more. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

Alexa felt her smile slip off her face and hers wasn't the only one. Her entire house looked at Dumbledore with a mixture of fear and contempt.

No, she thought, her heart hammering madly in her chest. _Don't you dare._

"Ahem, I have a few last minute points to award," Dumbledore announced, looking cheerful as ever. "First, to Mister Ronald Weasley for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen these many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

The Gryffindors cheered loudly and Alexa glared hatefully towards them.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger," Dumbledore went on when silence had fallen once more, "for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

Another round of cheers broke out from the Gryffindor table while the Slytherins grew more serious.

Alexa was torn. She wanted her house to win, but she was pleased Hermione had achieved something for her house.

"Third, to Mister Harry Potter," Dumbledore went on and the room fell dead silent, "for pure nerve and outstanding courage. I award Gryffindor House sixty points."

"They're tied with us," a girl cried shrilly across from Alexa. She was barely heard over the outrageous screams the Gryffindors were making.

Alexa looked venomously towards Dumbledore, who seemed to have eyes only for the Gryffindors.

He raised his hand and the room fell silent once again.

"There are all kinds of courage," he announced, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mister Neville Longbottom."

The Slytherins groans of dismay and cries of outrage were drowned by the deafening sound of, not just the Gryffindors cheering, but of the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws cheering as well.

Alexa felt sick to her stomach as Dumbledore called out over the din, "Which means we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands and the silver and green hangings turned into scarlet and gold; the huge banner behind the High Table changed from a serpent to a lion.

Her entire house was fuming – Alexa caught Professor Snape shaking McGonagall's hand with a forced smile plastered on his face.

"I swear that's the biggest load of dung I've ever heard," Liam said angrily as the cheers slowly died out as the feast began.

"And to think that everyone was happy we finally lost," Alexa agreed. She had lost her appetite and, all along the Slytherin table, she noticed that most of her fellow classmates had barely touched their own food.

Sue was shaking her head. "It's hardly fair. Dumbledore was a Gryffindor! He's going to be biased, especially if Potter is involved."

For the rest of the feast, Alexa and the rest of her house sat in sullen silence, hardly speaking to one another and barely touching their food.

They had won, fair and square. They had earned the House Cup and simply because Potter, Weasley, and Granger had broken rules and - though it pained Alexa to admit it - stopped a terrible man from doing something far worse than she could ever imagine, they had stolen the Cup right out from under their noses. The entire school was happy at Slytherin's defeat and it made Alexa hate the whole lot of them.

* * *

To Alexa's pleasure, she passed all of her classes with good marks, even History of Magic, which she could barely keep her eyes open in. Her Potions score was the highest out of them all, closely followed by Transfiguration and Charms.

"How'd you do?" Sue wanted to know as her eyes quickly scanned Alexa's test results. "Well, I knew you'd do better at Potions than me, but I'm glad I got a higher mark in Charms than you."

Alexa scrunched her nose at Sue, who laughed, and the two of them settled down into chairs by the fire.

All around her, Alexa could hear talk of summer plans, of promises to write to each other.

Only Sue would write to her, Alexa knew, and she was perfectly fine with that. After all, she hadn't exactly made many friends that year, and she had barely spoken to Hannah over the last few months.

She could easily blame it on studying for the finals, but after watching Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw cheer at Slytherins defeat of the House Cup, she had very ill feelings towards the rest of the school, Hannah included.

As the train left Hogwarts, Alexa watched it disappear before letting Morgana out of her cage.

Morgana stretched out, her claws entended as her tail curled slightly, then curled up in a ball next to Alexa, who was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Sue, when the compartment door slid open and Hannah entered.

"What do you want?" Sue asked, her tone waspish.

Hannah simply smiled. "I wanted to say goodbye to Alexa before we got to King's Cross. I haven't had a chance to talk to her for a few weeks."

"Oh, well, see you next year," Alexa said, somewhat coldly.

Hannah regarded her with raised eyebrows then sat down.

"Look, I'm sorry about Slytherin losing the House Cup," Hannah began, but Sue cut her off.

"Are you?" she demanded. "I don't think you are. I saw you cheering right along with the rest of the school. I've no time for false condolences and feigned apologies. Get out and go back to whatever compartment you came from."

"Sue, enough," Alexa snapped. "She's my friend, not yours."

Sue shrugged and looked pointedly out of the window, watching as the scenery flashed by.

"It's fine, Hannah," Alexa said, but Hannah was shaking her head.

"It's not," she countered. "It was wrong that everyone was happy that Slytherin lost. You all had won, fair and square, and Gryffindor came in and stole it from you." Hannah shook her head. "I am sorry, truly. I hope we can still be friends."

Alexa stared at Hannah for a long moment before nodding, a smile breaking out on her face. "Of course we can still be friends."

Hannah beamed and reached forward, hugging Alexa tightly.

"Good," she said in Alexa's ears. "I like you far too much to not be friends with you."

She pulled back and eyed Sue carefully. "It's nice to officially meet you, by the way, Sue."

Sue glanced coldly at Hannah then turned away again.

"She's a tough nut to crack," Alexa lied.

Hannah looked happy enough and soon disappeared just as the lunch trolley was rolling through.

"Why are you friends with her?" Sue wanted to know as she returned to her seat, her arms laden with Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes.

Alexa grabbed a Licorice Wand and a few Chocolate Frogs before returning to her own seat.

"Because she's nice and doesn't judge me for being a Slytherin like everyone else at Hogwarts does," Alexa retorted. She ripped open a Chocolate Frog and read the card: " _'Nicolas Flamel is a well-known alchemist and the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone._ '"

She looked up and caught Sue's eye.

"Isn't that what Potter and his friends stopped Quirrell from getting?" Alexa inquired and Sue nodded.

"It is," she confirmed.

Alexa flipped the card over and stared down and the smiling face of Nicolas Flamel.

"How odd," she said as Flamel tilted his head at her, "that Quirrell would sacrifice himself for something as legendary as the Philosopher's Stone."

"A sacrifice that was in vain," Sue agreed.

Alexa looked down at Flamel for a moment longer before putting the card aside and biting the head off the Chocolate Frog.

When the train rolled into the platform, Alexa hurriedly put Morgana back in her cage, much to her cats' obvious discontentment, and joined the throng of students eager to disembark and find their parents.

Sue had just found her parents when a hand touched Alexa's shoulder.

She spun round, a scream stuck in her throat, and found herself looking up at Liam.

"Have a good summer," he told her, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Er, thanks." She eyed him curiously. "You too."

Liam nodded then hurried away just as Alexa's parents approached.

"Did you have a good year?" Mrs. Lott asked as she embraced Alexa tightly. "Oh, I've missed you."

"I had loads of fun," Alexa said as she pulled away and turned to her father, who hugged her even tighter than her mother, making it difficult to breathe.

When he finally released her, he took hold of her trolley and made for the exit.

"We can't wait to hear all about it," he said and the three of them left King's Cross station behind them and, Alexa thought a little sadly, the Wizarding world.

* * *

 **Never fear, for those of you who have been keeping up with Alexa and Sue and Liam. Presently, in-between novel writing, I have been working on the second Alexa Lott fanfiction. For now, at least, I have every intention of continuing her story. I haven't got the faintest idea as to when it will be posted, but I am aiming for the end of this month, perhaps early next month. You can follow me as an author if you wish to read more about Alexa. It's the only way I can think of for you to be notified. Unless you just want to keep checking back for it, of course. Whatever you decide, if you want more Alexa, it'll be soon. Enjoy your November and see you in _Stone Cold_.**

 **Sincerely, The TragedyIs**


End file.
